Alliteration Challenge: The Anxious Ace
by AwesomePotterlover
Summary: Loosely connected stories with the prompt 'alliteration' from my English teacher. Trigger warning for abuse mentions, injury mentions, anxiety mentions. Most recent: The Loyal Libero: Shinji Watari knew himself like the back of his hand. Unlike most of his team, he didn't need any self-discovery. One thing he was particularly aware of was his mediocre status as a player. (SEIJOH 3)
1. The Anxious Ace: Karasuno Part One

**AN: This is basically a compilation of some Haikyuu! Oneshots I posted on my old tumblr sideblog. Mainly because my teacher said that I couldn't choose titles containing alliteration and make good stories out of somebody else's original plot. I proved her wrong, and I figured I might as well post 'em here whilst I'm struggling to update my other stories. Note: This chapter is AsaNoya, if you squint. Enjoy!**

 **-AP**

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 _The Anxious Ace_

Karasuno's ace, Azumane Asahi, was many things. Quiet, gentle, determined and caring. Apologetic. Kind. Selfless.

He didn't think these things about himself, of course; He was just repeating to himself what Nishinoya was saying. What Noya was saying, because he'd said he was pathetic, useless, awful. He had no good qualities in his own eyes; This wasn't even that bad of a day. The short libero seemed to enjoy listing how amazing Asahi was to him, because, he was still going when they got to school. "-and loving and positive and-"

"N-noya-san, we need to go to practice..." The ace said it fondly. When him and Nishinoya met, they were both much different than they were now. Noya was still loud, of course; But he was an outcast to the rest of his year, for more than just his height. Tanaka made friends with him, because Tanaka has a tendency to make friends with loud, confident people. No matter what the rest of the world thought of them. Asahi was pretty much the same...except he barely talked to anyone. He went to volleyball practice of course, but even then he didn't speak much outside of calling for the ball or responding to Coach Ukai. He was an anxious first and second year; he'd often have panic attacks or suddenly be unable to talk.

But then, Nishinoya Yuu became Karasuno's libero. But then, this short, unpredictable ball of sunshine decided that the tense, scared, large mass that made up Azumane Asahi was going to be his friend. That he would make him laugh, and smile, and talk like everybody else did. The man chuckled to himself as they entered the changing rooms. He couldn't say the smaller boy hadn't succeeded; Noya made him open up more than he'd ever been comfortable.

Azumane covered his eyes, afraid of the world, and Noya removed them, coaxing him along, telling him the world is a dark place, but it's okay. It's okay, because he'll be there, behind you; He'll back you up, he'll keep you safe. In more ways than one, Nishinoya was his and the team's rock. He made sure no ball dropped, and that no mood dropped with it.

They finished changing and opened the doors to the gym, Asahi laughing a little as the view of a tiny middle-blocker and a determined setter came into their vision, and, despite the fact Noya dived for the ball out of instinct, it slammed against the court loudly, and then bounced against the wall. Both of the first years let out a yell of celebration once they saw, and Nishinoya let out a loud laugh. "I will receive one of your quicks one day, Shoyo, you just wait!"

The slightly taller ginger grinned sunnily. "I look forward to it, Noya-senpai!" Truth is, he probably did. Normal spikes from Hinata were easy to receive for any skilled libero, but his quicks were on the floor before you knew he'd hit the ball. However, despite this, Hinata seemed to want his senpai to receive the quick. Of course, he loved seeing Nishinoya receive. It was pretty cool-looking; plus, Noya was probably one of the best liberos in Japan, so Hinata seemed desperate to learn from him.

The rest of the team arrived, quickly pulling Asahi out of his thoughts. "Where's Coach?" Tanaka said as he walked in, already stretching as he walked. Daichi was the last to come in, making sure everyone was there before answering. "He said he can't come to morning practice today. Takeda-sensei's stuck in traffic and our managers are busy with exams. In other words," He picked up a Mikasa ball from the floor. "We're on our own this morning."

He threw the ball at Asahi, who caught it. "I thought we could play some 6-on-6 this morning. After all, the qualifiers for the Spring High Tournament are coming up, and we seem to have perfected most of our new techniques, but it doesn't hurt to practice. So, Asahi, you're the captain of the other team, I'll be the captain of the first. Everyone has some tricks up their sleeve, after all."

Asahi was the one who ended up with Noya, after he protested that Daichi was already an incredible receiver, and he had Kageyama, who would do anything to make the ball go up. The teams ended up like this:

Asahi  
Nishinoya  
Tanaka  
Suga  
Ennoshita  
Narita (None regular.)

Daichi  
Kageyama  
Hinata  
Yamaguchi  
Tsukishima  
Hisashi (See note for Narita)

They did, of course, test out new techniques, one of them running over to the score stand to tally up, and then continuing play. They named their teams "Ravens" and "Crows", ravens being the team that had overall more older players from the team, compared to Crows, which was nearly entirely first years save Hisashi and Daichi.

The games were fun. There wasn't as much pressure as there was with practice games with other schools, and it couldn't even amount to the stress of a live tournament game. It was just a bunch of high-school kids having a laugh, pretty much.

By the time Takeda-sensei rushed in, half an hour late, the score was 15-13, with the Ravens in the lead. Daichi gave him a quick breathless nod as he changed the 12 to a 13, wordlessly assuring him that everything was fine in his absence. As they continued play, Hinata shot a mischevious grin at Nishinoya, who received before looking at Asahi and Suga with a confident expression. "Tobio and Shoyo are gonna do a quick."

"How do you know?" Suga asked as the ball flew back to the other team, chance ball. Noya shrugged.  
"He just looks like he's plotting. And that usually means freak quick. I'll receive it, though. This time." His voice was determined, breathless, and filled with so much confidence that it seemed to spread to both teams.

Set, spike.

It seemed to go in slow motion. Noya, rushing faster than Asahi could see, facing the wall, diving with an arm out to receive...

And he did, of course. Nishinoya could do anything he set his mind to, but the ball fell to the floor on the other side as Noya slammed face first into the wall, his arms luckily already to his waist, the force forcing his back to flip, and him to slip down the wall till he was dizzily looking upside-down at the court.

Daichi was the first to run over, and the others followed suite, Takeda-sensei coming over with a first-aid kit to check for concussion.

Azumane didn't move.

Suddenly, he couldn't breathe. He was on the floor, tears streaming, before he knew he'd even reacted, not noticing Noya jump up and rub his head, no concussion present, saying it was just a bump. He was on the floor, clutching his chest to try and forcefully regulate his breathing, hyperventilating, feeling like he was going to die. This was it. This was it.

Noya quickly noticed and rushed over to Asahi, kneeling down and brushing a strand of hair away from the ace's face, speaking gently. "Hey, I'm okay. I'm okay. Breathe, Asahi-san. I'm fine. Really." The older tried to speak, but all that came out was an embarrassing squeak. He really was going to die this time, he swore, his heart might as well stop on the spot.

Nishinoya hugged him.

They didn't usually hug. They were best friends, of course, but hugs were something that never usually happened.

His heart rate slowed, his breathing regulated, as he breathed in the comfort that was his libero. The small boy rubbed circles into his back, whispering comforts. "That's it, Asahi, calm down. It's all okay."

When he was normal and recovered, Noya pulled away, to the elder's protest (since hugs were rare, they were nice), and turned to the team as Azumane let out a weak "Sorry." The other laughed, stepping to the side to reveal terrified (and in Hinata's case, literally crying) teammates. "You don't need to explain to me."

"U-uh, oh." He responded sheepishly, standing up shakily and brushing himself off. "Uh...I...Uh...I'm sor-"

"ASAHI-SENPAI ARE YOU OKAY?!"  
"DID YOU GET HURT TOO?! I'M SORRY, THAT TOSS WAS RECKLESS I SHOULD'VE-"  
"WE DIDN'T MEAN-"  
"WE'RE SO SORRY-"

"Guys, stop yelling, you'll make him have another panic." Noya said gently, for once being the calm one of the team. The first years (minus Tsukki and plus Hisashi) immediately shut up, bowing their heads in apology. Hinata hadn't stopped crying and hiccupped slightly as he stood, wiping his face, and then stepped forward, still not stopping crying, and addressed both the libero and the ace.

"I-I'm sorry!" He bowed his head, shaking slightly. "I was...I was too excited... And now you're upset and Noya-senpai's injured!" He was sobbing in pauses, head still bowed. "I d-didn't mean to hurt anyone and I-I'm s-s-s-"

"Shoyo." Asahi said calmly, placing a hand on the small first-year's shoulder and pushing him back to a standing position, looking in his eyes firmly. The younger knew he was serious; Asahi rarely called anyone by their first names. "It's not your fault. Volleyball is a sport where people get injured. It panics me, but I knew that when I started playing." He smiled comfortingly. "You wanna be ace when I've left, don't you, Hinata?"

Hinata nodded, and then wiped his face, and glanced to the side. "B-but...I'm not sure I'd be a good ace." Azumane simply laughed, ruffling his kouhai's hair.  
"I didn't think I would be, Hinata. You'd be an amazing ace."

He turned away, picking the ball up as it had rolled back to this side. "But let me give you some advice for the future, for the Karasuno team's future."

He faced the small, ginger boy with a crooked smile, ball under his arm, eyebrows turned up in some form of sorrow. "Never be an anxious ace."

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 **AN: Not all of the oneshots contain the title. However, you can decide in the reviews which one I post next; "The Wild Wing Spiker" (Tanaka) , "The Loud Libero", "The Panicked Pinch Server", "The Calm Captain", "The Sunny Setter", "The Melancholy Middle-Blocker", "The Salty Setter" or "The Lonely Little Giant"! Write which one you want in the reviews! Thanks for reading!**

 **-AP**


	2. The Calm Captain: Karasuno Part Two

**AN: Ok, so since nobody's reviewed yet, I'll just post in alphabetical order. So Karasuno should go something like; Anxious Ace, Calm Captain, Loud Libero, Lonely Little Giant, Melancholy Middle-Blocker, Panicked Pinch-Server, Salty Setter, Sunny Setter and Wild Wing-Spiker, unless people vote on this chapter. Anyway, Enjoy!**

 **-AP**

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 _The Calm Captain_

Silent but deadly or loud but anxious. Those were the traits that made up Karasuno High School's Boy's Volleyball Team. Most people didn't notice; People thought, Tsukishima's quiet, so he must care about others a lot, and talk minimally in his team. People thought; Nishinoya's loud, so he must be overconfident and full of himself, he must have a good, worriless life. Both of those things, though examples, were false.

Tsukishima was cold and melancholy towards most of his team, but his input was much. He had no problem criticizing behind closed doors. The only thing right about most people's deductions was that he didn't have many friends; Even in the team, he only seemed to trust Yamaguchi.

Nishinoya was confident, sure, but just the right amount to be comforting in a game. His life at home was far from perfect, and though nobody revealed his secrets because he didn't, everybody knew that his life was far from perfect. And he worried. In fact, despite his overreacting and exaggerating nature, he was probably the most worrisome on the team, especially when it came to games. He was always observing, making sure nobody was down in the dumps, making sure the ball goes up or he dies trying to make it do so.

That was the contradictory nature of their team. They masked how they truly were to deceive opponents, and, in some cases, to deceive their teammates.

The only one who knew the ins and outs of this phenomenon was Sawamura Daichi. He studied his team, knew what comments fired each of them up, knew how to motivate them and how to help them negotiate their way out of difficult situations. Equally, he knew what comments discouraged them, knew how to make them feel awful, how to make them lose the will to play. The latter knowledge is something he'd never use, just a useful skill to have. So he could tap into what other teams' taunting would make them play better or worse.

The job of the captain is a complicated one.

The captain needs to be caring, but firm. Like a parent. Needs to be encouraging, but know when the others need to rest. Like a Coach. Most importantly, he needs to understand and co-operate with his teammates. Like a friend.

Daichi didn't know if he was any of these things, but he tried to be. Was that all that mattered? In some situations, no. But his teammates seemed comforted by his presence and, no matter what happened, he liked that. He liked that the team felt safe around him, and he liked that when anyone was in trouble, he was one of the first people they thought to tell.

So when Hinata came, after practice, solemn and quiet, contrasting his usual happy-go-lucky attitude, Daichi knew two things. One, something was very, very wrong, and two, Hinata didn't trust anyone else with whatever he was about to say. He kept these things in mind as the boy opened his mouth, letting information of his upbringing, his father, his bullies, spill out into the open.

Tanaka and Kageyama would just be angry. Suga, Yamaguchi and Asahi would just be upset. Tsukki would be indifferent, as always. Noya would understand, but he seems like the type to get angry. The first years didn't know what his life was like outside of school, and the libero wanted to keep it that way. Daichi respected his peer's wishes. So, he was the only option, and as the only option, it was his job to be the best friend he could right now.

He let Hinata speak. He listened. He nodded. And he would help because he had to help. Because this small, confused boy needed him, and he had to know he wasn't alone. "Hinata, thank you for trusting me. You don't have to tell the rest of the team if you don't want to but I promise, I will help you. If you tell the others, we all will." Shoyo nodded, eyes watery and staring at the ground as his captain patted his shoulder as a form of comfort.

"Oh, and, it wouldn't hurt to talk to Noya." The ginger boy looked up, cocking his head to the side in confusion. Daichi laughed a little despite the situation. "I know it seems strange to ask, and I'm not going to reveal anything Nishinoya-san would be uncomfortable with, but he's...He'd understand, is all I'll say. So talk to him. He can help you more than I can." He didn't let the circumstances get to him. It was awful, yes, but life usually was. Deep inside, he was angry. His team didn't deserve hurt or pain. His team were the best thing that ever happened to him. But he kept it to himself, kept calm and composed.

That was his job.

He sighed. "I'll help you, Hinata. I'll get you out of there. I promise." Daichi said it with enough determination for the middle blocker to offer him a weak, uncertain smile. "I-It's not really that big of a d-deal-" His captain immediately interrupted, shaking his head vigorously and staring straight into the small boy's usually fiery brown eyes. "It's a huge deal. Someone hurting you is a gigantic deal, Hinata. Don't ever assume you don't mean that much to people that it would be." The boy was shaking, but nodded. "Oh." He said simply in response.

Hinata left then, and the first thing Daichi did as he locked up was turn, away from the direction of his home, and walk towards the Police station. The walk was vaguely short, but whilst he was walking (at an uncharacteristically fast pace) he thought. With Nishinoya, the only reason nobody had reported his parents was because Noya had nowhere to go. He needed someone to look after him and nobody could, so usually he'd spend as much time away from his house as possible. It was pretty effective.

Hinata's parents were already separated, and, from what the small boy had said, his mother was an absolute parenting angel. So he could just live full-time with her, instead of part-time. Hinata had somewhere to go. Places to stay if things got too much. So that meant that Daichi could finally report one of those bastards that decided they had a right to hurt his team.

Nobody had a right to hurt his team. No one. He'd never forgive anybody who did.

Daichi had a messy upbringing. His parents died when he was young, so he spent most of his childhood hopping through the foster care system. Some people were

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nice, some people were mean, he dealt with it because that was just who he was. He was humbled and composed because he needed to be to protect those around him. However, after the worst foster home he'd ever been in, he found an amazing one. A family that loved him like one of their own.

After that, he vowed he'd never let one of his friends get hurt like he'd been hurt all those years.

When he found out about Noya, he felt like he failed, but the libero reassured him otherwise. He said that if he could trust Daichi enough to tell him this, then obviously the now third-year had done a good job. Daichi kept that in his head. Hinata told him in confidence. Hinata knew he could get him safe, and the captain would be damned if he didn't. He continued marching down the road, hoping to God that Hinata wasn't late home today, that he was safe and okay. He shuddered at the thought of a horrific beating that he'd let his friend go home to, one that could be happening right now.

If it wasn't Hinata's, it'd be Noya's.

He threw open the doors of the Police station, startling the relaxed men inside, and walked up to the reception as a man on a mission. The captain took a deep breath and looked up at the confused adult above him, and then said the words he hoped people would've said for him so much earlier than they did.

"Hello, I'm Sawamura Daichi and I'd like to report a case of abuse against a child."

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 **AN: Ignore the accidental line break half through a sentence up there. Anyway, yeah. This is basically part of my own little Haikyuu! universe. I might write more of it, if people like it. This has more hints to it than "Anxious Ace", so I thought I'd state it here. Dadchi strikes again...Anyway, thanks for reading, review to vote for what you want next or just to say hi! Thanks!**

 **-AP**


	3. The Loud Libero: Karasuno Part Three

**AN: Woah! Two posts all consecutively ! Eh, I might as well. This contributes to my little Haikyuu! universe also, just so you know. So, uh, definitely AsaNoya? Enjoy!  
-AP**

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 _The Loud Libero_

Nishinoya Yuu was loud. That was the first impression anyone on the team had of him. He was extremely loud. And bouncy. And happy. But, he was the best receiver the Karasuno team had ever seen. At least, that's what the captain at the time had told him. And he gave off this aura of confidence that spread to everyone else on the court with him, leaving the opposing team with a feeling of ultimate disconcertion.

He didn't fit in much with his year.

Third-years often made fun of him because of his height. Second-years found him creepy, whispering lies about him behind his back. Most of his year just avoided him, shuddering any time he was close to them, thinking he was too confident for anyone's good, too loud for anyone's comfort. He didn't mind. People could say what they wanted; It didn't matter to him. He was his best right now in terms of volleyball and grades, so why should he care?

The team seemed nice. The second-years and third-years there welcomed him happily. The first years seemed to enjoy the enormous presence compared to his tiny figure. He fit in in one place, and that was on the court. With his team. With Karasuno.

He took a liking to Tanaka straight away. The way he had a loud, no-nonsense attitude when spiking, the way he overreacted just enough to cheer up everyone else whilst still scoring. Ryuu was immediately his best friend, and neither of them had a problem with the development. They were similar, and enjoyed each other's company, much to the confusion of the other first-years outside of the team.

There was one person on the team, though, that intrigued him more than anybody else. Azumane Asahi. He was a second-year at the time, and he called for the ball, but barely talked outside of play. The third-years reckoned he'd be the team's ace when they'd left, and yet, he showed no reaction to this comment. No rejoice or disappointment at all.

It wasn't that he had no emotions or was indifferent. He showed a lot of emotion when playing, just never vocalized it.

After their first practice game, Nishinoya vowed that Asahi would be his friend.

The first time he tried to sit with him at lunch, Asahi looked at him wearily. "You're the one they say will be the ace, right?" Noya said, munching on a sandwich like it was his last meal. The larger boy looked up and shrugged, sipping on a juice box. "You don't talk much, huh?" The small boy laughed, slurping from his own drink and regarding the future ace with amused eyes. Said boy seemed to giggle a bit, before catching himself. "I-I guess not."

"It speaks!" Noya overreacted, spreading his arms out wide without putting his milk box down, the straw dropping out of his mouth and out of the box, spilling milk all the way down his front. At first, there was a snort. And then, suddenly, the quietest man on the team was chortling, slapping the table and wiping tears from his eyes. Nishinoya laughed with him, patting his lap with paper towels from his bag and then wiping his face with his arm.

Asahi's laugh was the nicest sound he'd ever heard. From the nervous giggle earlier to the loud, uncontrollable laughter now; it was such a beautiful, happy sound. He liked it. Yuu didn't know why, but, for some reason, he wanted to make Asahi laugh more. He wanted to make him laugh and smile all the time. He wanted to see the happiness in the elder's eyes.

"I-I don't know why you want to be friends so much..." Azumane said as Nishinoya rushed up to him, suggesting they walk home together. The libero shrugged nonchalantly. "You...I dunno." He blushed, turning his head to the road beside him. "You're...you're pretty. And you have a nice laugh. And...you're so passionate about everything." The small boy took a deep breath and turned back to the other. "I don't know why I find you so...Amazing, but I just do."

Asahi was bright red, a shiver running up his spine. "I-I'm nothing m-much! You're so much better. You're dependable...I-it's comforting. A-And you're friends with everyone, e-even those who make fun of you. T-That's pretty admirable."

"Asahi-san. We're friends, right?" The taller nodded. "Well...why we want to be doesn't matter really, does it?" Noya said, smiling at his elder. "I'm behind you, no matter what. That's my job. I keep you safe. So you don't need to be so nervous around me, okay?" Azumane grinned and nodded vigorously, clinging onto his bag somewhat desperately, looking as if he was swooning slightly.

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"Azumane-san, can I talk to you?" Asahi spun around. Noya never called him by his last name, at least, not anymore. This must be serious, and the thought made worrisome possibilities begin flitting through his mind like mayflies. He wished he could swat them away.

The ace nodded as Hinata left, waving goofily as he walked away with Kageyama. Those two were the last in the changing room; Daichi had to go home early and told Asahi to lock up.

Nishinoya didn't particularly say anything. He just pulled his T-shirt over his head. The libero usually changed in privacy, but today he had waited until everyone had left, presumably to show Azumane what he was about to show him.

Asahi could've screamed.

On the small boy's back and chest, there were black and purple bruises, and big, red welts in strips down his back. Some were still bleeding from the friction of saving balls and leaving marks on the inside of the shirt. The ace reached out, tentatively touching a particularly swollen red mark on the other's back, causing Noya to whimper quietly, biting his lip. The small boy's eyes were squeezed shut, as if he didn't want to see how his friend reacted.

"H-How?" He whispered quietly as Nishinoya opened his eyes, still not making eye contact, and slid on his school shirt gently, still hissing in pain as it brushed against his injuries. "My dad." He said it monotonously, a blank, emotionless expression on his face. He didn't really need to explain; Asahi was shaking at this point, at what he knew it was, but didn't want it to be. "Why? W-why would any p-parent-?!"

"Asahi, don't." It was quiet, soft and gentle. It contrasted enormously to the blank tone from before, and the libero was turned away so that the elder couldn't see his face, his expression. "I ask myself enough. The answer...It's something I'm not sure I even want to know anymore." His voice cracked a little at the end as he continued to change into his uniform.

"How long?" The ace said it firmly, not even knowing if he wanted to know the answer. Noya shrugged, sitting down to tie his shoe laces and still refusing to make eye contact with his elder. "Ever since I can remember." Asahi found himself shaking. His entire life? His ENTIRE life?!

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Azumane flinched at the aggression in his voice, and so did Nishinoya, looking up cautiously to check the third year hadn't moved. He looked back down and shrugged again, trying to appear nonchalant. "I didn't know it was bad until...Until I met your parents." His voice was uncharacteristically quiet, and his shoulders were hunched. The other couldn't see his expression, and for that he was partially glad. He didn't want to see his friend like this.

Asahi let out a subconscious growl at that. Noya flinched, shuffling backwards slightly, away from the ace, who winced at his reaction. "S-sorry." The libero whispered it, his eyes wide and his face terrified. Azumane shook more, running a hand over his face. "N-no, I-I'm sorry. I-it's just..." He didn't have the strength to finish, but he didn't have to. The smaller boy nodded, indicating he understood.

"After I...found out that it wasn't...It wasn't right, I stood up to him." His voice was shaking as he continued, the fake cool composure dropping with his head. "B-but...but he said if I ever told you...he'd f-f-find you and-" Thinking about that was apparently enough to send the tiny boy over the edge.

Suddenly, the boy started wailing, uncontrollable tearing pouring down his face, shaking. Asahi reacted quickly, sitting and pulling the small boy onto his lap, cradling him as he cried. Noya clung to the elder's shirt, burying his face into his chest as the elder whispered comforts. "Shh, don't worry. I'm here. I'm safe. You're safe. We're okay." He ran a hand through the younger's hair comfortingly as the libero cried himself out.

Eventually, wails turned into sobs, which turned into hiccups, which turned into yawns.

The poor, injured boy had fallen asleep on his best friend. Azumane chuckled, pulling his phone out with one hand and texting his mother saying Nishinoya was coming to stay for the night, and then shoved it back into his pocket and swung the smaller boy's bag over his shoulder with his own. Then, he shifted the libero slightly to a more comfortable position, and stood, carrying him. He stirred, but didn't wake, even when Asahi had to balance him in one arm to lock up the changing rooms.

As the ace walked to his house, his friend in his arms, he thought about him.

He was so... _small._ So fragile. Everyone seemed to forget that sometimes, even Asahi himself. When he was on the court, pulling off impossible receives, he seemed invincible. Guardian Deity. Indeed, not only on the court. He was always behind you, cheering you on. You could always rely on Noya to catch you and shove you back on your feet whenever you fell.

But who'd catch him?

Asahi vowed he would. From now on, he'd catch the small boy when he fell, when he couldn't handle life. Starting from today. Because if his libero got hurt again, he couldn't live with himself. If he saw one more bruise that wasn't from an intense spike or a quick block follow-up, he could never get it out of his head. He had to keep Nishinoya safe. He had to.

As he got in, his mother was waiting, looking questioningly at the small passed out boy in her son's arms. "Later." He mouthed as he carried the small boy upstairs, laying him into his bed. He tried to move away, but the sleeping boy whined, pulling him down. Azumane sighed fondly, shifting into a comfortable position, before falling into dreamless sleep with his loud libero, clinging to him at his side.

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 **AN: ALL THIS GAY! Refer to the first couple chapters for what's next on the list. Yeah. Review if you'd like to! Maybe tell me which team to do next?** **-AP**


	4. The Lonely Little Giant: Karasuno Part 4

**AN: I am really quick on the uptake. Most of the Karasuno ones are already written out and just need editing, so after that's done it might get a bit slower. Anyways! Here it is. Warning for abuse...a lot of it...I can go on, but you get it. Note: KageHina if you squint.  
-AP**

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 _The Lonely Little Giant_

Hinata Shoyo cared about everything. Similarly to Noya, his year found him weird, and too loud. But the difference was that Nishinoya Yuu was used to people disliking him, he was used to people making fun of him, and he couldn't care less.

Hinata cared. A lot. Every little comment stuck in his mind, and he could never shake it off. On bad days, even the occasional "Dumbass!" could get to him. He usually pretended he didn't care; As far as he was concerned, letting people see they'd got to him was telling them they'd won. Today, though, was one of the days where he couldn't help it. One of the days where it was too painful to hold back.

On these days, he usually skipped school. Today he couldn't.

He was at his dad's. He'd be dead if he skipped school; even more so if he was sent home or skipped volleyball practice. Well, he was probably dead ANYWAY, but there were ways to make him less...dead. Which included being good at school and being home on time. Not before or after.

The small boy sighed as he walked into the gym, not looking at Kageyama, who was practicing serves until the others came. The taller, raven-haired boy stopped, ball in one hand, glancing at his friend. "Hey dumbass. Want some tosses?" He never usually had to ask; Hinata would jump on the chance to get a toss. The said middle-blocker just sighed again. "I dunno. I'm not really into it today."

"You? Not really into it?! Seriously?! What the hell, dumbass?!" The setter yelled back, throwing his arms down to his side and dropping the ball, looking somewhat like a six year old having a tantrum. Shoyo flinched slightly, and then shrugged, trying to seem casual. "I'm just not into it. I don't feel all 'essential to winning' and 'ultimate decoy' today." He took a deep breath, hesitantly looking Kageyama in the eyes. "You don't have to toss to me if you don't want to."

"WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I DON'T WANT TO, DUMBASS!" It was louder now, and suddenly Daichi burst in, glaring at the two accusingly. The others followed quickly, hoping not to find another fight on their hands. Those two, however, didn't notice. It seemed to just be them in the room in their eyes. The ginger boy flinched again, taking a cautious step back. "I'm not good today. Y-you usually don't toss to me if I won't do any good."

"THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKS! YOU ALWAYS DO SOMETHING GOOD, EVEN IF IT'S JUST A FRICKING REBOUND, Y-Y-YOU...YOU DUMBASS!" His voice was aggressive, but his expression told a different story. The other couldn't see that, too busy with his eyes trained on the wooden floor. "That's not true. Sometimes I don't do good. Everyone has bad days. How many times have my spikes been blocked?" He looked up, shouting now, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. "HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I LOST US SETS?! MATCHES?!"

"THAT DOESN'T MATTER! DUMBASS, NOBODY ALWAYS FUCKING WINS!" Kageyama stepped forward, expression angry now, as if the smaller boy had lit a fire under him. "Kageyama!" Daichi called it out as a warning. Don't get too angry, don't fight, otherwise they'd have to intervene. That was the tone. That was the facial expression. That was the cautious body language, and yet, the argument didn't stop.

"STOP CALLING ME A DUMBASS!" It was more of a wail than a shout, but the anger was obvious as the middle-blocker stepped forward, shoving the setter backwards. "WHO DO YOU EVEN THINK YOU ARE?! YOU WOULDN'T KNOW, TOBIO! YOU WOULDN'T KNOW HOW IT FEELS TO ALWAYS LOSE!" For once, Kageyama seemed taken aback by the sudden anger. He tried to stutter out a weak response as he was shoved again, stumbling backwards. "I NEVER, NOT ONCE, HAVE WON A BATTLE ON MY OWN. EVER. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH THAT HURTS?!" Hinata grabbed the taller boy's collar, pulling him down to his eye level. "You wouldn't, would you? You can always win. If you want to." He threw him down, shoving the setter to the floor, who just looked up, completely dazed in shock by the small boy's reaction.

Shoyo threw a ball down to him, and the first-year caught by instinct, still completely paralyzed. "GO ON, WHY DON'T YOU?! TOSS TO ME, KING, SO I CAN LOSE AND LOSE AND LOSE! THROW THE DAMN BALL, I'LL NEVER HIT IT! NOT ONCE! WHAT MADE YOU THINK THAT A LOSER LIKE ME COULD EVER KEEP UP WITH THE KING OF THE COURT?!"

"SHOYO, THAT'S ENOUGH!" Nishinoya shouted, grabbing the boy by the arms and pulling him backwards. He didn't resist one bit, eyes still trained on his setter. Kageyama looked down as he stood, looking at the coloured ball in his hands. He threw it into the box where they kept them, and walk passed Hinata, slamming his shoulder into the smaller boy on purpose. "I don't know." He seemed arrogant, and that's what Shoyo heard, not seeing expression which the others could see.

Tears, a pained expression, and a bitten lip. He walked out, slamming the doors of the gym behind him, leaving a stunned silence. Shoyo said nothing as Noya let go of his arms. He let his shoulders drop with his head. "D-dammit." He picked up a ball, glaring at it as if it was it's fault, and used a serve hit to make it slam against the other side of the court. "DAMMIT!"

"Shoyo, calm down." Noya said quietly, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Everyone argues. He'll be okay. You'll be okay." The short boy shrugged him off, sniffling to himself. "No, I WON'T BE OKAY! You wouldn't get it." Nishinoya shrugged, grabbing the younger boy's arm and pulling him out of the gym much to his protests.  
"Maybe not. Maybe I will. I won't if you don't talk to me, you idiot."

He didn't want to talk. He didn't have to talk. But he was dragged into the changing rooms, Noya locking the door behind both of them. "Right. Talk. Now." Hinata opened his mouth, but he didn't really know what to say. "I-I...I..." Nishinoya shook his head firmly, folding his arms and looking somewhat like a concerned parent. "Dammit Hinata. Not justification. I want to know what's WRONG."

"Oh." The ginger boy replied, looking down. "Uh...M-My...M-my dad..." Noya's eyes immediately softened, his posture turning to more gentle and his expression caring. "What about him?" The libero asked softly, not wanting to make the middle-blocker feel more cornered than he no doubt did already. When he didn't respond, Nishinoya decided to ask the question he wasn't sure he wanted the answer to. "Has he hurt you, Shoyo?"

The boy just nodded, tearful. "Has he hurt you recently?" Another nod. "Can I see?" That question caught the tiny first-year off-guard, and he looked up, shaking slightly. Then, he hesitantly nodded, pulling off his training shirt.

"Oh, Shoyo." It was empathetic, but more than anything, sad. He wished people weren't hurt like this, but there was nothing he could do about it. After all, he couldn't even keep himself safe. The ginger boy was sobbing quietly now as Noya took charge, slipping the boy's shirt back over his head. "Has he hurt you in any other way? Other than hitting you?" He needed to know. His dad had never done that, ever, but he knew it happened. It had happened to Daichi.

For a moment, Hinata stopped breathing, tears still streaming down his face. He closed his eyes, and jerked his head in a small nod that Nishinoya wouldn't have noticed had he not been paying complete attention. "Shoyo...Has your dad ever done something to you, something intimate, that you didn't like?"

A nod. Nishinoya knew. He knew everything. And he didn't even want to; He didn't want to dream of anyone hurting his friend and kouhai like that. Ever. But they did anyway. Because nobody cared how things hurt people; Because the world was harsh and painful. He sighed to himself quietly, and then hugged the slightly taller boy. "It's okay. It happens. Daichi said he'll get you safe. I didn't understand what he meant, at first, but..." He took a deep breath and looked straight into the chocolate-brown eyes. "I'll get you safe too. Do you want to stay at Asahi's with us tonight?"

"B-but...wh-why not your house?" Hinata asked, wiping his face with his hand. Noya smiled and shook his head sadly. He unlocked the door of the changing rooms with one hand whilst he spoke. "My dad likes to hurt people, too."

They walked back into the gym. Everyone seemed to be fretting. Kageyama was back, sitting in the corner, doing nothing, talking to nobody. They all looked up as the two shortest on the team entered. Daichi got a look of affirmation from Nishinoya; They were okay. Both of them.

"Hey Asahi! Can Shoyo stay in your spare room tonight?" Everyone seemed startled by the question, even Kageyama, who looked up, a confused expression on his face. "Uh, sure?" The ace responded, trying to scan Noya's eyes for any trace of what had happened, but finding nothing. The libero was, after all, a master at keeping secrets. "Good. Now." The small second-year shoved Hinata towards the black-haired setter in the corner. "Talk."

And they did.

A lot.

Shaking. Crying. Apologizing.

"I-I'm sorry. That was insensitive of me."  
"You didn't know." Hinata responded, shaking his head at the boy he'd grown to see as more than a dumb enemy. "It's okay." Kageyama protested slightly, but then nodded. "I guess."

There was a silence, and then Tobio asked something that nobody on the team expected at such an emotional moment. "Hinata...P-please...Spike my tosses!"

"W-what?" The ginger boy responded, caught off-guard. "U-uh..." He looked to the others, who shrugged, just as shocked as he was. Kageyama had his head bowed, and when he rose it, he didn't make eye-contact, seemingly embarrassed. "W-when you spike...It's so much different from e-everyone else. I feel this rush. This burst of excitement when you go like 'WAPAM!' and it gets in!"

Hinata blushed a little as the setter continued. "A-and...I was really mean. Really, really mean. I wouldn't be surprised if you hated me. It's happened with spikers before." He took a deep breath, and turned away, wiping his face with his arm. "But please...Please keep spiking for me."

Shoyo grinned, standing and offering his hand to Kageyama. With humor sparkling in his eyes, he simply said something the setter had said to him a billion times before.

"That goes without saying."

* * *

 **AN: YAY! Review?**

 **-AP**


	5. The Melancholy Middle Blocker: Part Five

**AN: Here it is. The Tsukishima chapter. Sorry if this one seems a bit OOC, I'm not really good at writing Tsukki. He's like one of my favorite characters, but I'm BUTT AWFUL at writing him, so, my apologies. This is probably the most TsukiYama thing you'll ever read. Enjoy!**

 **-AP**

* * *

 _The Melancholy Middle-Blocker_

"I hate you."  
"You love me."

Ever since Akiteru could remember, his little brother had been cold towards others. There were a small fraction of people he'd ever genuinely smile at, and that was only him until Middle School. Until middle school, when he met Yamaguchi Tadashi. And then, the change seemed minimal, but he smiled more and more, seemed more open. It made the elder Tsukishima happy that his brother was...well, happy. Though the tall boy refused to have Yamaguchi over for dinner, it was obvious that he and the other were very close.

However, when his brother saw he wasn't playing, all of that change. He began to retreat, back into the shell people had tried so hard to pull him out of. Akiteru couldn't help but feel like it was his fault. It would've been much easier if he'd told the younger straight-out that he wasn't a regular. But he didn't, because he wanted to impress his little brother, like any older sibling would.

How pathetic.

Tsukishima Kei very rarely enjoyed things. Even if he did, he didn't like to admit it. The only one he ever admitted those things to was his brother, and that only recently came back into play in his life. His brother didn't live at home, of course, but he came home regularly, sometimes even to cheer him on. Kei didn't want to admit it, but one of the many things he secretly enjoyed was his brother cheering for him from the sidelines.

Today was very different.

Akiteru was home for the weekend, and the younger was feeling particularly positive. Not about the outcome of a recent practice game against Nekoma (which they had to cut off early at a set a piece, and were hoping to resume in a week's time), but because of something completely unrelated. A brown-haired, freckled something.

Though he was also extremely nervous.

Because said "something" was about to meet his family.

Tadashi was excited when the taller mentioned it two days before. "Finally!" He'd never met any of the family, just seen them. There was reason, apparently. Truthfully, the blocker didn't know himself, but he was sure there was some kind of reason. Probably.

He walked in with the excited teen behind him, and flinched at his family's smiling faces. Yamaguchi shoved him out of the way and then suddenly clung to his arm. "Woah! Are you all inhumanly tall?!" Tsukki chuckled a little, and then blushed at his brother's mischievous eyes, which were trained on him, sparkling with amusement. "It runs in the father's side." Their mother said, giggling. "Please, Tadashi, come in! We've heard a lot about you!"

"You talk about me?" The boy suddenly seemed bashful, looking up at the blonde, who just let out a slightly embarrassed 'tsk!' before looking away, face turning even redder. "O-of course, dumbass." Yamaguchi let out a laugh, stepping inside and pulling his friend by the sleeve into the kitchen, where a table was already set for them. "You sound like Kageyama." He giggled, pulling the tall Tsukishima down to the seat beside him.

Said boy rose an eyebrow. "And you're acting like Hinata." Tadashi gasped in fake offense, elbowing the middle-blocker in the side with an over-exaggerated frown on his face. "I'm nervous, okay? This is your family. I don't wanna mess it up..." He said, suddenly serious, looking down and fiddling with loose seams on the sleeves of his hoodie. Kei sighed, bringing a hand up to the smaller boy's head and ruffling his hair. "Calm down. They're as nervous as you are. They don't want to mess this up either."

Somehow the backhanded comment calmed Yamaguchi, who smiled as Kei's mother served the food for them all. The pinch server politely thanked her, and then dug in with the others. It wasn't long before the questions started. "So, Tadashi, does our Kei have many friends outside of school?"

"Well, he seems pretty close with Bokuto, from Fukurodani, he's one of the top ten aces in Japan!" The blond mumbled something in protest as his friend continued. "And Akaashi, Fukurodani's setter! He doesn't have a fancy title but they seem pretty similar. They're both totally like, cold to opposition and stuff, and a lot of their teammates, like they keep them down to earth." At this, the other two Tsukishimas laughed, much to their youngest's dismay.

"And then he's friends with Kuroo, the captain of Nekoma, our destined enemy!" Yamaguchi said it arrogantly, as if he was showing his friend off. Akiteru turned to his little brother, head cocked to the side. "You're friends with the captain of Nekoma? THE Nekoma?!" The younger simply shrugged, shoving another spoonful of food into his mouth to avoid the question. "Yeah! Though a couple other people on our team are friends with people from Nekoma too? So I don't suppose it matters!"

"Today we had a practice match and we totally nearly DESTROYED them! For the first time ever!" Tadashi was basically bouncing in his seat, and both the older at the table noticed Kei slowly slip until he was balancing his head on his elbow, eyes trained on the freckled boy with shining eyes, and a slightly hidden smile, as if he was the only thing in the world.

"Tsukki! I've gotta go now." The server groaned, looking at his phone. They had barely just finished dinner. The middle-blocker sighed to himself, before standing and offering a hand to his friend. "I can walk you home."

"No!" The brown-haired boy protested, and then blushed, looking away. "I mean, my parents don't like me walking home with people, haha. I'll see you tomorrow, though." Without thinking, the pinch server stood on his tiptoes and kissed his friend on the nose. He then froze, realizing his mistake, and stepping back, blushing. "U-uh, sorry." He then proceeded to run out, down the street, ignoring the for once emotion-filled yell of the middle-blocker.

"TADASHI WAIT!"

He reached an arm out, even though there was nothing there, and then dropped it, turning to what he expected to be an empty room. Instead, his brother was standing, staring at him, with a strange smile on his face. "I probably just messed up my entire relationship with my best friend and you're smiling?"

"You like him."  
"Of course I do. He's my friend." Akiteru looked at him, an eyebrow raised in the signature Tsukishima expression, the smile not wavering a bit as their mother walked back into the room with a sarcastic, teasing tone. "So, when's the wedding?"

A shiver went up the boy's spine, and he glared at the two. "Shut up." His mother laughed, and his brother playfully punched him in the arm, teasing look remaining in his eyes. "You think we didn't see how you were looking at him?"

"It's not like that!"  
"Honey, you're more head over heels than I was for your father at 17." Their mother said, smiling as she cleared up the plates.

Kei took a deep breath, and ran a hand over his face. "Look, what does it matter?! It's just...It's not like...Look, it's no big deal." The stutter was uncharacteristic, and the small grin was as goofy as that of a lovestruck puppy. "H-he's just...I mean it's not...We couldn't date anyway."  
"Why not?"  
"Because!"

A phone rings. The light blond boy picks it up, and a panting but embarrassed voice greets him.

"I hate you, Kei."  
"You love me, Tadashi."

* * *

 **AN: Sorry. I'm bad at writing Tsukki, as I said. Forgive me? Also, review, if you liked this! I always appreciate any feedback or criticism (as long as it's constructive) too! Thanks for reading!  
**

 **-AP**


	6. The Panicked Pinch-Server: Karasuno Six

**AN: Whoop! I'm better at writing Yamaguchi, so hopefully this is better than the last one. I can't believe I'm so good with posting these, like it's legit become an important part of my day, even if nobody reviews. Maybe my passion for writing is back? Who knows. Anyways, Enjoy! NOTE: in my hcverse, Yama has anxiety and is super paranoid. Just in case you need any explanation.  
-AP**

* * *

 _The Panicked Pinch-Server_

 _Breathe._ The word constantly running through Yamaguchi Tadashi's head, that helped him get through the day. Just breathe, and you'll be okay. Most days, it worked. Today it was working. That was good. That was always good.

"Hey Yamaguchi!" He turned as Ennoshita ran up to him, smiling as usual. "You off to practice? Walk with me, will ya? Narita and Hisashi are so slow." He nodded, smiling at the future captain, who slowed a little to walk with him. "So, Yamaguchi, how's the serve?"

 _The serve._

 _Of course you only want to know about the serve._

"I-it's pretty good, I guess. I mean, it still needs work..." Tadashi let himself trail off, glancing to the side as the second-year beside him cocked his head to the side. _Because you're still the only first-year-_ "It's because you're the only first-year who isn't a regular, isn't it?" The boy jumped, startled. Who was this guy, a mind-reader or something? Ennoshita laughed, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry. It's just...I wasn't a regular either. I've never been one. So I guess I'm in a similar boat. Plus, there's always that thing nagging you, right? That you only have one talent?" Yamaguchi just nodded, stunned.

Chikara laughed again. "Don't be so surprised. I know I don't seem stressed about it, but it really used to eat me down." He shrugged as they walked into the gym, collecting a water bottle from the floor and taking a quick swig, before setting it down. "Anyway, I think your serve is awesome. And I think you're awesome, too. I mean, look at you."

He regarded the dynamic duo, who were already there, practicing spikes from whatever angle they could without falling or injuring themselves, and then Tsukishima, who was talking to Asahi, probably about what blocking technique to use in their next practice game against Fukurodani. The other schools had kept in contact with Karasuno since training camp. "You're surrounded by genius first-years. A setter who can pinpoint, a spiker barely reaching over 160cm and a blocker who does a lot more than just reads his opponents."

"I think you're really amazing. I know I couldn't deal with that. Then again..." As if on cue, Noya and Tanaka burst in, loud and proud, yelling about something or the other. The second-year chuckled. "I got the knuckle-heads with hearts of gold, so maybe I wasn't lucky, either."

Daichi entered with Coach Ukai, as a symbol that now was the time to start proper practice. As Ennoshita walked to the huddle, he turned back and grinned at Yamaguchi. "You and me are very alike, Yamaguchi. But I promise you, you have more to offer than an incredible serve. After all, nobody's ever listened to me blab for this long before."

* * *

 _Breathe._ No matter how many times he said it, there were days the breath wouldn't rush back into him. There was only one person that could ever fully calm him down, but Tsukishima Kei was currently the cause of the burning in his lungs and the shaking of his voice. They were arguing. Nobody on the team had ever seen them argue because Kei seemed too completely emotionally unattached to the world to bother, and Yamaguchi was always too nice to yell.

It was stupid.

Tsukki was _stupid._

It all started so simply. Tsukishima was having a bad day, Tadashi was there, he guessed. Usually, on bad days, he still had a softer tone, gentle eyes, when he talked to Yamaguchi. He was special to him...right? That had to be it.

He was walking to school, and he bumped into his blond friend, who scowled. "WATCH IT-!" Tsukki looked down and scoffed at his shorter friend. "You should watch where you're going, Yamaguchi." That was it. No greeting, nothing else. He just walked off, leaving a confused boy in his wake. Practice wasn't much better. He was colder than usual, and Tadashi decided to find out why. "Hey, Tsukki, what's up? You seem we-"  
"Leave it."

And he did. Until the boy was exactly the same for the entire day. Then, at evening practice, the server asked again. "Kei, seriously, what's wrong?" The blocker was facing away and let out an echoing yell, startling everybody in the gym. "I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE IT, YAMAGUCHI!"

Normally, Yamaguchi would keep his distance, but today was different because today the one thing that made the boy get up in the morning was looking at him like he was a stranger. "Why the hell should I leave it?! You're acting like I'm a STRANGER!" Daichi let out a weak warning, but even he seemed lost on what to do. Kageyama argued with everyone, and Tsukki clashed with most of the team regularly, but NEVER with Yamaguchi.

"So?! It's none of your business!" The taller boy protested, turning, and Tadashi flinched. His eyes weren't soft or gentle; They were fiery and mean, like a boiling pot that had started spitting and boiling over. "It's all my business, Tsukki! It's not like I'm like everyone else in this goddamn room, IS IT?! We've been friends forever!" Kei scoffed and shoved his friend. "What? You think you're special because I don't hang out with anybody else?"

"Oi, Tsukishima." Kageyama was the one to utter the warning, him and Hinata having similar arguments more often than the other two, because he knew how far the middle blocker could go. Yamaguchi stumbled, but shoved the other back twice as hard, gritting his teeth. "No, I think I mean more to you because I stayed with your whiny ass when no other fucker could be BOTHERED, KEI!"

"Oh, so I'm the whiny one now? Says Mr. 'Oh, I'm not a regular, I should die!', puh-lease!"  
"YOU WERE THE ONE WHO GOT ALL DISTANT JUST BECAUSE YOUR BROTHER WASN'T THE ACE! SO WHAT?! YOU HATE HINATA BECAUSE HE'S LIKE THE LITTLE GIANT?! WHO CARES?! YOUR BROTHER IS A VOLLEYBALL PLAYER, VOLLEYBALL'S A TEAM SPORT! IT DOESN'T MATTER IF HE'S NOT ON THE COURT TO HIM, DOES IT?!" Tsukishima grabbed Yamaguchi by the collar, lifting the small boy off of his feet and choking him slightly with his shirt. He pulled him close, so their noses were touching, but this was far from intimate. "It matters to me, you self-centered PRICK!"

He threw his friend down with a sickening thud, glaring down at him. Tadashi let out a bitter laugh. "I thought I mattered to you, too, Tsukki." The blond clenched his fists. "You're just another pathetic little boy dreaming big when he can't get past middle school kids alone. Why would anything you do matter to me?" He stepped forward, his expression turning furious. "WHY WOULD I CARE ABOUT A FREAK LIKE YOU?!"

"S-shut up." The small boy was shaking, trapped in his tall friend's shadow. Kei snorted, turning away and stalking off, attempting to walk out of the room, with little luck. "D-dammit." Yamaguchi whispered as he stood, already feeling a bruise forming on his back. His anger wasn't deterred, however. He suddenly charged, tackling Tsukishima to the ground. "DAMMIT, TSUKKI!"

He sat on top of the boy and punched him once on the nose, cracking the boy's glasses slightly. "AT LEAST PRETEND THAT I MEAN SOMETHING TO YOU!" The boy sounded angry, but tears were streaming down his face, and his breathing was laboured. Tsukishima threw a punch into his friend's face, the force of it knocking him back, his nose beginning to bleed, and then threw him off. "I'm sick of pretending." He said quietly, wiping his face and storming out.

So now, here Tadashi was, blood streaming from his nose, bruises covering his back and ribs from being thrown about, wails coming out in short, strangled sounds, tears falling uncontrollably, hyperventilating. Asahi was trying to tell him something, but he couldn't hear anything; As if he was thrown deep underwater. And here he was, weakly whispering for the only boy he ever trusted.

Suddenly, he felt his dinner rise in his throat, and threw up all over the floor, still trying to regain his composure. His vision was slowly fading to black at the lack of oxygen. He was going to die. He was going to die with Tsukki hating him, and he was going to deserve it. He regarded the irony of which everything had happened; This gym, where a new life had started, where said life would now end.

He didn't even mind.

* * *

When Yamaguchi woke up, he was in the hospital. Everyone was around him, looking terrified. Asahi looked as if he'd been crying (which was nothing new) but so did Hinata, who was gripping Kageyama probably hard enough to kill the boy. His family weren't there; Big surprise. There was a free chair directly next to his bed, and Tadashi briefly wondered who was sitting there, and where they were now.

He didn't have to wonder long. Tsukishima navigated himself in backwards, and Suga quickly took the tray of drinks off of him before his hands dropped, loose at his sides, at the sign of his friend's open eyes.

Without realizing, the small teen was suddenly enveloped in a warm, tight hug, and he felt short kisses on his head, before they started all over his face. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry, please forgive me." The whispers were in between short kisses, and Yamaguchi just laughed, kissing the boy on the nose, the move that had originally started their relationship. The tall boy stopped, brow furrowed. A tear was sliding down his face, and Tadashi wiped it away with his thumb. "Kei. It's okay. I'm sorry too."

"I-I thought...J-Jesus Christ, I t-thought you'd never wake up, Tadashi. I-it was all my fault." Tsukki pulled away, rubbing a hand over his face. The shorter boy shook his head, ignoring the rest of the team around them. "It was bound to happen eventually. My therapist told me so, anyway. I just didn't expect...this." He gestured to everyone around him. "I don't...know why you guys are here."

A nurse walked in, checking his vitals quickly. "They wouldn't leave." She said nonchalantly, and glanced at Tsukishima with a glare. "This one sat between the sliding doors and refused to move until we let him see you. Nobody could leave for an hour." She sighed, and shook her head, but she had a fond smile on her face as she addressed Yamaguchi. "Ah, to be a teenager. Mr Yamaguchi, you can go home whenever you're ready. We found out you're already with a psychiatrist for your anxiety, so we sent reports there. You seem fine; I'm sure you've dealt with this before." Tadashi nodded, thanking the nurse before she left.

"You blocked hundreds of people just to see me?" Kei rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and smirked to himself, the others laughing a little now the truth was out. "I'm a blocker. I'm supposed to block people." He defended, which just caused their team to laugh more, and it wasn't long before him and Yamaguchi joined them, giggling for no reason, at life, because what else could they do?

 _Breathe._

With Tsukishima Kei, that was the only time Yamaguchi Tadashi didn't find such a simple action impossible.

* * *

 **AN: THIS IS SO GAY, I LOVE IT! I'm nearing the end of Karasuno...scary. Anyway, review if you liked!  
-AP**


	7. The Salty Setter -Part One

**AN: This one vaguely connects to The Lonely Little Giant, so yeah. I was so anticipating posting the Kageyama chapter, you have no idea. Note: This is so KageHina, you don't even know. Like, incredibly. Farts. Anyway, enjoy  
-AP**

* * *

 _The Salty Setter_

Ever since Tobio could remember, he'd been alone. Him and a volleyball were the extent of the things he trusted, and some days he didn't even trust himself. He trusted Oikawa, once. But that ended badly, even though he didn't mean to be better. He didn't mean to be calmer. He didn't mean-

But who cared what he meant? It was never about what he intended. Just about how other people saw it.

He decided that if Tooru wanted to be enemies, then so be it. If the small, amazing ball of fire named Hinata Shoyo wanted to be enemies, then so be it. If all of his team wanted to be enemies, then so be it. Who was he to tell them he didn't mean it? Who was he to tell them they perceived wrong? Who was he to tell them he didn't want to fight everybody?

In some cases, the rivalry became fun. Or he wanted to beat them just as much as they did him.

However, no rivalry would ever rile him up more than that with Hinata.

When he was with Hinata, there was no such thing as fatigue, or loss of stamina, or loss of strength. Just the rush of adrenaline, the rush of trying to win.

When he was with Hinata, he felt so alive.

Kageyama sighed to himself, and Suga frowned. They were in practice, but for some reason, the genius setter was out of it today. "Kageyama, do you need a break?" The third-year asked gently, but nonetheless, his kouhai flinched. "N-NO! No, I'm fine."

It was probably because Shoyo had been off for the past few days. After something particularly bad at home, he'd come into practice, eyes...older than usual, and told Daichi he quit. In an act of desperation, Kageyama had grabbed at his jacket, which had pulled off, revealing...

Revealing bruised, scarred arms, revealing a cry for help that nobody could answer.

Hinata had run off, and hadn't been to school since. School nor practice. They'd asked his parents, but his father had slammed the door in their faces, and his mother was a mess, having already called the police and sent out a search party. None of the team really wanted to practice without Hinata; He was the life force of the team on their worst days, along with Noya.

But Noya was the one who reacted the worst. He shook, he was slow, he'd have random moments where he just burst out crying. Asahi didn't know how to help, and usually just ended up crying too. Nishinoya was quiet; not like he was in a game, not like he was when he was focused or upset. Quiet, because he didn't think he deserved to speak, and no matter how many people told him that their decoy's disappearance wasn't his fault, the libero never quite took it in.

Kageyama hadn't taken days off, but mentally, he had. He was distant and distracted, he'd occasionally set too hard or serve too hard, or demand that someone would serve harder so he could receive. He was overworking himself to distract himself from the absence of a boy who probably didn't even feel the same way about him.

* * *

It was awful. Every time Sensei's phone rung, they all stopped and turned, all focus gone from the game. They all wanted him back; even Tsukishima seemed bored without their banter. It was in the middle of a practice game with Fukurodani when it happened. For once, the powerhouse decided to come to Miyagi, seeing as none of the team wanted to leave in case Hinata turned up. Bokuto was looking really weirdly at the team, and Akaashi glared at him. "We need to warm-up."

"Our little owl's missing, Akaashi." The large boy slumped slightly, cocking his head like a confused animal. "Where did he go? He was so cool, too." The setter made quick eye contact with Karasuno's and sighed, slapping his ace's back. "He'll turn up, Bokuto. Now hurry up and warm-up otherwise I won't toss to you for the entire game."

That kicked the owl into gear, and he joined the warm-up. Akaashi looked over to Kageyama, his brows furrowed. The ace of Karasuno was there, sure, but the ace of Kageyama Tobio wasn't there. Keiji may be mean to the man-child of Fukurodani's ace, but he shuddered to think of what he'd be like without him. Sure, he'd be fine for a while, maybe, but eventually the absence of the unpredictable boy would get to him.

He imagined that's how Tobio was feeling right now, and he was right.

They scored, sure. They were still a hard match, as if that would ever change, with all the tricks they could pull. But they were different.

Ring!

The ball dropped. The entirety of Karasuno turned as Ukai called a time-out, and Takeda answered the phone. The team ran, quickly huddling around their teacher, listening to one side of the conversation. "Yes. Yes. Thank you very much. We'll be there in about an hour, is that okay? Yes. Thank you. Bye."

He turned, eyes sparkling, expression shaky, looking as if he were about to start jumping up and down. "THEY FOUND HIM!" Half of the team burst into tears, the other half rejoicing. Bokuto basically hit the roof, high-fiving a tired Akaashi. "THEY FOUND OUR BABYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" The setter mumbled something vaguely along the lines of 'we're not even his parents, calm down', but everyone in the room seemed glad of the return.

"He's in the hospital, we can see him in an hour." Takeda explained as more people collectively screamed about 'their baby coming home'. Suga had literally flung himself into Daichi's arms, both of them crying as the captain spun them around, yelling happily. "He's home, he's home, he's finally home, and he's safe."

The game continued, and the rest of Fukurodani tutted. Karasuno had regained their usual ready-for-anything attitude, and it wasn't long before, an hour later, they had won, 2-1 sets, much to the other team's dismay. However, they were glad, despite the consequence of dive-receives, that the sunshine of the crow kingdom had returned.

* * *

When Kageyama first saw Hinata again, he swore he was dead.

The boy's eyes were closed, he was pale, he had wires sticking out of him from every angle, and the shock of orange hair seemed to have dimmed with the rest of the decoy. When they entered, all being deadly quiet, he cracked his eyes open slightly, and flinched away weakly at the sign of his team, who winced at his reaction, all sharing a quick glance. "Hinata, I know you're sick and all, but uh, if we don't let Bokuto and Kuroo in they might actually kill someone."

"Bokuto-senpai and Kuroo-senpai are here?" He said quietly, moving slowly to a sitting position. Daichi opened his mouth to answer when he was shoved out of the way by the owl-like ace, who was followed by the captain of Nekoma. Bokuto immediately clung to the small boy. "My baby..." He whispered gently, petting his head as if he was a dog. Despite being obviously weak, the ginger giggled. "Hey, Owl-san." He probably couldn't be bothered to say the older boy's name.

"Excuse me, sir, but Karasuno volleyball team were the only ones given clearance by the carer of Hinata Shoyo to see him, could you please wait outside?" The nurse squeezed herself into the small room, and Bokuto pouted. "B-but-!" Kuroo sighed and nodded, smiling at the woman before dragging the ace away. He looked back one more time at the tired kid, before disappearing into the hallway.

Kageyama said nothing, sitting in the seat next to his friend's bed, shaking slightly. "H-how. How did you get here?" Shoyo suddenly became interested a whole lot more in his bed sheets. "I hoped they'd have told you." It was basically a whisper, and the entire time, the boy hadn't let the blankets fall below his shoulders. He took a deep breath, and laid back down. "I want to be alone right now. J-just..Can you give me a second?"

They nodded, and the team left, Tobio leaving last.

They ran into Hinata's mother in the hallway. Kageyama looked up. "Hinata-san, how did he get here? What happened?" She was tearful, and hugged him suddenly, taking a deep breath. "Kageyama-kun. You...I'm so sorry."

"Why would you be sorry?" The setter asked, patting the woman's back gently. Him and his friend's mother had an understanding. She knew he liked her son, and kept it to herself, and for that, he respected her. She pulled back, wiping her eyes. "They say he lived outside for the past couple of weeks. They found him...passed out in the river."

"Why would he be in the river?" Noya asked, looking confused, and she smiled sadly, shaking her head at the group of boys and wiping her face with her sleeve once again. "He...He jumped off of a bridge. I don't know why. I've been here already, he won't talk."

"I know why." Kageyama growled, and he turned, marching out of the hospital. Daichi grabbed his arm, shaking his head vigorously and yelling that it wasn't worth it, to no avail.

He was many things, was Kageyama Tobio. He was salty, and angry, and he hated a lot of people. He got really bitter and held grudges for long times. He was, overall, not a nice person to hang around with. However, there was only one good quality he saw himself to have. One. And that was that no fucker was allowed to mess with his friends.

Not even their parents.

* * *

 **AN: pls don't kill me for the cliffhanger there's a part 2 there's a part 2...  
-AP  
**


	8. The Salty Setter - Part Two

**AN: Here it is! Part two. I left it a while for suspense...That decision was the one that actually sucked my English teacher into my stories, haha. She said she was surprised how dark I could be, too. But oh well! Anyway, here it is! Enjoy!  
-AP**

* * *

 _The Salty Setter - Part Two_

When he threw open the door of the house, the team miraculously following him, for some reason, he was greeted with something he didn't expect. Bottles littering counters, some cracked on the floor, with brown-red staining the pieces. Kageyama let out a growl when he realized it was dried blood. He had no idea about the extent of his dear decoy's injuries, but seeing the place where it happened destroyed him more than knowing.

Tanaka and Noya had stayed behind. Noya volunteered to, and Tanaka was, strangely, very emotional. So, the team's reaction was...quiet. Very quiet. Tobio barely moved, letting their captain step in front of him and take charge. "Suga, Ennoshita, Yamaguchi, you guys go get Hinata's clothes and belongings. Quietly." The three nodded, creeping upstairs.

Daichi turned to his teammates and took a deep breath, and then let out another whisper. "I'm not gonna lie, this could get ugly. Be prepared for anything. Hisashi, Narita, wait outside and call the cops." The two second-years shakily nodded, slipping wordlessly out of the house once again. It wasn't long before the man watching television sensed the presence in his house, and stormed out into the hallway. "OI! DUMBASS! Where do you think you've BEE-?!" He obviously expected his son, looking up at the looming team. Asahi had immediately stepped forward, both him and Daichi in protective stances.

"What the fuck are you kids doing in my house?! Who's upstairs?! THE FUCK?!" Daichi scowled, expression dark. The two first years behind them shuddered. They'd seen their captain angry, sure, but this was different. The look on the teen's face was nothing short of bloodthirsty. "You have no right to ask us what the fuck we're doing here. You're the one who put your own son in the hospital."

"WHAT I DO WITH MY SON IS NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS!" The drunken man threw a punch at Sawamura, who ducked, before tripping him with a sweeping kick. "It's definitely my business." The teen growled, grabbing the dark-haired man by the collar and lifting him back up. "But I'm not the one you need to worry about right now."

That was right. The man suddenly looked terrified at the wall in front of him. 190cm Tsukishima, who looked just about ready to kill someone. The other two, making up the tallest trio on their team, were staring at their enemy with fire in their eyes. Kageyama, glaring at the pathetic sod in front of them, had no idea the other two could even look this angry.

Daichi let go of the man, and Kageyama and Asahi both immediately let rip, promptly beating the crap out of him. Tsukishima stood to the side with his captain and shrugged at the questioning look. "I'm not much of a fighter. I'm just here for the scare factor." Unfortunately, the devil of a father got a couple punches in, but soon, he was out cold, and both Azumane and the setter had bloody knuckles, the ace sporting a bloody nose and knocked-out tooth, and the first-year having a very prominent black eye. The three sent upstairs creeped down. Suga was standing in front in a protective, motherly position, with a suitcase in one hand, the others following with Hinata's school bags and gym kit.

The sirens started from a distance as the seven went outside to join the two terrified second-years, Asahi pinching his nose and cocking his head up to stop the bleeding. Kageyama was looking strangely at the ace, and Daichi asked what was wrong, immediately checking the setter for a concussion, but finding no signs of one. The raven-haired boy just shrugged. "Asahi...he took all the hits. Literally. If he was throwing a punch, Asahi-senpai pushed me out of the way." His eyes were shining with some sort of newfound respect.

It wasn't long before the police arrived. The constable looked at Daichi when the now conscious but bloodied man was dragged out of the house in handcuffs, but the captain shook his head and gestured to the two still-panting teens. The policemen rattled off the man's rights, before shoving him into a car. The chief sighed, shaking his head and hopping into a video van. "You're definitely one of a kind, Sawamura Daichi."

* * *

They returned to the hospital with Hinata's things, the boy's mother thanking them and taking the bags off of the team. When she saw the injuries of the furious Kageyama, she sighed, and glanced at the floor. "I-I...I suspected something, honestly. But I didn't think Kiro-san would ever...He always favouritized Shoyo. I never..." She started crying, and it wasn't long before most of the team was sobbing too. Daichi sighed to himself and ruffled the hair of a still-sobbing Tanaka. "What am I gonna do with you all, huh?"

They decided Noya and Kageyama should be the ones to tell the sick boy of his father's fate, and neither protested, marching down the hall dutifully, but opening the door gently. "Shoyo." The libero basically cooed it, and the ginger boy looked up, smiling weakly at his friends, assuring them that they should just go home; He was fine, he promised. "That's not why we came in, though we wouldn't go home ANYWAY, you silly crow." Nishinoya said, shaking his head.

Kageyama sat next to the bed and looked directly into the dimmed eyes of his sunshine. "You're safe now, Hinata. It's done. You're safe." The young boy let out a confused mumble of 's-safe?' before gasping as he realized. "W-what did you guys do?!" Noya laughed a little, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, just pointing at the setter. "I wasn't there. I stayed with Ryuu." Tobio shrugged and Shoyo looked at him, as if a fire had been lit under him.

"Please tell me you beat the shit out of him?" That caused both of the other boys to burst out laughing at how excited the decoy seemed. Then again, who wouldn't be excited about seeing such a bad person get what they deserved? The setter nodded, poking his black eye a little, and shaking his head at his friend's concern. "This is nothing. Asahi took most of the hits. He didn't come back, though. He said he had 'something to take care of'." Nishinoya flinched suddenly, brows furrowed, and then looked up. "W-where did he head?"

"Down south, why?" The libero's eyes widened, and he quickly said he needed to go, before bolting out of the room faster than a cheetah on steroids. Hinata looked down. Him and his setter were alone...Why did that make him so nervous? Kageyama seemed to notice too, a dust of red suddenly appearing on his cheeks as they made eye-contact. "He's really gone, huh?" Hinata asked, and Tobio was relieved to see the fire in his eyes. He nodded, smiling widely at the boy he loved.

* * *

It had been three months since Hinata's dad got arrested. The ginger boy was out of the hospital, but had to see a therapist once a week from now on. He originally complained, but his mother refused to have it changed. There were still questionable scars, but nobody wanted to ask because nobody wanted to know. Those who wanted to, did. Those who didn't stayed blissfully clueless. Noya had started living full-time with Asahi, and neither of them minded that.

It was okay.

Practice was just about over, and Daichi's wide smile put up their spirits, as usual. Coach Ukai talked through plans for games, Takeda-Sensei explained that another training camp was nearing. It was normal. Everything was fine. And Kageyama realized how much he liked it this way. How much he liked it, surrounded by a team that enjoyed his presence as much as he did theirs.

Because it was already 10PM, the team didn't bother getting changed, most just slipping on their team-jackets and tracksuits over their practicing clothes, and changing their shoes. As the last of the elder students filed out of the club room, Hinata looked up at the setter who's back was slowly fading. "TOBIO!" The raven-haired boy jumped at the use of his first name, his face bright red. He turned to face the fiery boy.

"Throw me some tosses."  
"That...goes without saying."

* * *

 **AN: *sobs* this makes me cri erritim...OK but in all seriousness. This one's a bit rushed, I've been considering rewriting it, what do you guys think? Remember to review if you liked or have any criticism! Thanks for reading!  
-AP  
**


	9. The Sunny Setter: Karasuno Part Nine

**AN: Ah yes, the Suga chapter. It's not that happy, so don't count on the title to tell ya anything. Enjoy! TRIGGER WARNING FOR SELF HARM.  
-AP**

* * *

 _The Sunny Setter_

Sugawara Koushi was a boy of many talents. He could co-ordinate with everybody. Whoever it was, he could find their strengths and weaknesses. He could motivate the depressed, and his smile brought grins to the face of those who saw it. Indeed, if he was anything, he was the saviour of all those that knew him.

It was hard. In Karasuno, they had many suns, many people who brought light to their team. But the evil truth was that Noya and Hinata both had problems, serious problems. And they couldn't be happy all the time, so...that left it to Sugawara. It was his job to smile, and keep his cool, and show the others that there is really light in everything.

There was no light in this.

He watch the blood dribble down his stomach, a bitter smile on his face. He turned over in the bathtub, letting it disperse into the water, hissing slightly at the contact. Even now, he was smiling. Even now, here he was, lying to himself for the sake of keeping everyone else happy.

Suga always told himself there was nothing wrong with him, in these moments.

And that made it all the more worse. Daichi, Nishinoya, Hinata, Asahi, Kageyama, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi. They all had deep, underlying problems that made them do and act like they do. Suga didn't have a reason. He glared at the shimmering blade on the side as if it was it's fault, and sighed, burying his face in his arms. Compared to his friends, the boy had it laughably easy.

Yet, here he was.

He pushed himself up on his arms and bandaged around his waist, slipping a night shirt over it and padding gently into his room, flopping onto his bed ungraciously. The setter picked up his phone. He wasn't surprised to find nobody had texted him or called him. Why would they? No matter what his team said, he didn't really matter to the team effort, not anymore.

It was all Kageyama.

He didn't blame it on the kid, though. Sugawara didn't know much, but he did know that Kageyama was miles better than him in terms of skill and effort. After all, what kind of setter feels relief after being off of the court? A bad one, that's what. He sighed to himself, and threw his phone down on his bedside table, drifting into sleep with a troubled mind.

* * *

Morning practice. The bane of his existence.

He rubbed his eyes as he unlocked the gym doors. The boy chuckled as he heard Kageyama and Hinata, screeching at each other in the distance. He threw open the doors, putting on the lights, and jumped as a hand appeared on his shoulder. He heard a low laugh as Daichi came inside, shaking his head at his friend with a fond smile. "It's just me. Wanna set up?" The setter nodded, and they began to set up the net.

By the time the others got to the gym, the net and balls were already out. Daichi and Suga hadn't practiced anything; They rarely did anymore. After all, when would the captain ever hit Sugawara's tosses? Never. There was no point. There was no point in the grey-haired teen even being there anymore, but he was anyway. Because Daichi wanted him to be.

"Suga! Toss for me!" Asahi seemed hyperactive today, and the freak duo had already barged in, loud as usual. The boy scoffed and turned away, eyes narrowed, facing the floor. "Why don't you ask the King?"

Silence.

"Suga, are you okay?" Daichi asked it gently, but it felt like an accusation. The third-year flinched and turned to glare at his friend. Then, he considered the question. Is he okay? Is he really? He considered the bandages around his waist, and rubbed a hand over his face. "N-not really. Sorry, Kageyama. I know that hurts. I'm sorry."

The official setter smiled, but it was obviously forced. "It's okay, Suga-senpai. I get why you're mad, and uh..." Ukai entered, not speaking, noticing the tension in the room. Kageyama continued. "There's no reason you can't be official setter if you want. I'm not really that great. You taught me how to work with everyone. You're much better than I am." Sugawara shook his head and smiled sunnily at his kouhai.

"You're better anyway. It's fine." He brushed it off, but Daichi immediately pulled him to the side, speaking under his breath so not to freak out the others, but obviously frustrated. "Talk to me. Now."

"Why? Why would it matter to you if I talk or not?!" Koushi found himself getting over-aggressive, but right now he couldn't care less. He said everything loud enough for the rest of the team to hear. "You wanna know what's wrong?" He said breathlessly, shoving his friend back slightly with a hysterical, manic laugh.

"Okay, Sawamura, I'll tell ya! Nobody here needs me, I've got a prominent addiction to fricking HURTING myself even though I've got a lack of problems compared to any fucker else in this room! SO WHAT'S WRONG, DAICHI?! EVERYTHING IS WRONG!" Tears began trickling down the teen's face as the rest of the team stared, completely shocked, at their usually happy substitute setter. "Everything is so, so, so wrong, Daichi. Everything is so wrong."

He was sobbing now, and Daichi said nothing, scooping the crying teen up into his arms and nodding to tell the team to continue, carrying both of them out to the changing rooms. When they got there, Sawamura sat, but didn't let go of the boy, cradling him as he wailed, rubbing comforting circles in his back. "Sugawara. Calm down. Please." The boy seemed on the verge of tears himself as sobs slowly turned into hiccups.

"I'm sorry, Daichi. I'm so, so sorry...I'm so..." He took a deep breath and used a hand to punch himself in the head. "I'm so fucking useless. I'm sorry." The captain's eyes widened, and he caught the fists, stopping them in their tracks. "You're anything but useless."

He shifted the boy so their faces were pointed at each other and looked deep into his eyes. "Sugawara Koushi, you got me out of ruts that I'd have died if I'd have stayed in. How is that being useless?" The setter blinked and smiled weakly.

"I-I guess it's not." Daichi leaned down, gently pressing his lips against the other's, and then pulling away with a fond smile.

"Damn right it's not."

* * *

 **AN: I know that one was kinda short. Don't kill me. So anyways, that's the end of Karasuno, right? JESUS CHRIST. It may take longer to post now I'm onto Nekoma, considering I haven't even decided on the titles yet, so bathe in this, or whatever, I guess? Thanks for reading, review if you liked!  
-AP  
**


	10. The Machinelike Manager: Karasuno Pt Ten

**AN: I completely forgot about the managers! Thanks to BooksWriteMusic for reminding me, haha. So I'll do Kiyoko, then Yachi and THEN I'll start Nekoma! Sorry for the mess up haha. Anyways, enjoy!  
-AP**

* * *

 _The Machinelike Manager_

It's not that Kiyoko Shimizu found it particularly hard to show emotions. She could laugh and cry just like anybody else could, and, when she became manager, her emotions overwhelmed her just as much as Yachi's did now. She just got used to the unpredictability of Karasuno Boys' Volleyball Team, and she'd been there from win to loss to win again, so much so that it barely bothered the girl anymore.

Daichi, Sugawara and Asahi weren't really what you'd call a handful. They were usually calm and kept their cool, and Azumane apologized if he accidentally brushed her shoulder in the halls, so it's not like she wasn't respected. In fact, even when Tanaka and Nishinoya joined, they respected her, even if they flirted every time they saw the now third-year.

Most of it was joking, anyways. Nishinoya flirted with pretty much everyone jokingly at first, plus, he had a huge crush on Asahi from the moment he saw the large lump of panic. So, his constant flirting didn't bother her; And Tanaka? Well, serious or not, he'd beat the shit out of anybody who'd try to hurt her and she appreciated that in somebody.

The first-years were nothing short of a handful.

Hinata seemed somewhat scared of her, Kageyama yelled something along the lines of 'Tanaka-senpai would kill me, sorry' every time they were within 10 yards of each other without anybody else, Tsukishima kept on patting her head and claiming he thought she was Yamaguchi, and the pinch-server himself just seemed to, miraculously, enjoy her company.

A handful indeed; Full of contrasting personalities, easy accidents, and hyperactive kids. She didn't need to control them, though; They were already terrified of making Daichi mad, which was probably a good thing. If she learnt anything in her first-year it's that Sawamura Daichi was scary when he was angry.

Sometimes she wondered how she became so...uncaring for things around her. Surely, it wasn't the team. The team had been her everything when she thought there was nothing left. The team made her everything she was, and was everything she truly strived to be. And yet, she found herself not wanting to wake up in the morning to get to practice.

She found herself not wanting to go to practice at all.

It just started as one little lie. One little 'I feel sick today, I can't come'. But it grew and grew and grew. She was taking weeks off of school without seeing the team, and she felt relieved. Kiyoko wondered if this was how Suga felt when Kageyama came along; The relief of power was so refreshing. She didn't even do much, just sat in her bed and stewed in it all.

She heard footsteps up the stairs and turned over, pretending to be asleep. Another morning, another lie. Her mother opened the door and sighed. "Shimizu-kun, I know you're awake." She sat up, looking at her mother and cocking her head to the side. Her mother always saw through her anyway; She was only confused the woman hadn't noticed sooner. "Shimizu, go to school. Now. I know you've got practice. The boys have been coming to my work, asking how you were. They're worried about you."

The girl sighed, but knew there was no use arguing with her parent. She got up as her mother left, sluggishly pulling on her tracksuit, and then grabbing some toast on the way down, before setting off to school.

* * *

She really didn't expect this.

When she got there, the entire team was waiting. They all seemed nervous. It took a second of her being next to the gym for the entire team to try to hug her simultaneously, bombarding her with questions.

"Guys, you'll smother her, stop it!" Daichi commanded, and the team drew back, looking sheepishly at the ground. Sawamura walked up to her and patted her on the shoulder with a fond smile. "Welcome back, Shimizu. We missed you."

That threw her off. Welcome back? She expected that. But the sincerity of the "we missed you" hit her hard. Suddenly, the manager felt tears gathering, and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. Daichi seemed taken aback. "W-why are you crying?!" She laughed to herself and shook her head, looking at the tearful blonde assistant manager in the corner with a smile. "I don't even know."

"Well, whatever it is..." Sugawara patted her shoulder with a sunny smile. Asahi continued the sentence, standing at a distance, looking shy as per usual, but still making eye contact, with a nervous smile. "You know you can tell us." She laughed. What they had said when she became official manager in the end of her first year, in perfect unison, all slightly arrogant, when she was upset about her senpai leaving.

"Because we're a family." The entire team shouted it loudly, and then ran inside, all giggling a little like middle school kids, leaving only Yachi outside with her. The blonde looked nervous, but smiled anyway. "Shimizu-senpai, are you okay?" Her eyes were concerned, and the dark-haired girl walked into the gym, ruffling her kouhai's hair as she went. She looked back with probably one of the first genuine smiles she'd ever experienced, and with tears still budding like sakura in early March in the corners of her eyes, she let out a fond sigh, looking at the excitable group of boys in front of her, in her charge.

"I am now."

* * *

 **AN: This is short, but yeah. Sorry it can't be alphabetized, I had to write this considering I completely forgot about Yachi and Kiyoko originally. Yachi's next! Review if you liked!  
-AP  
**


	11. The Awed Assistant Manager: Karasuno 11

**AN: The final chapter! After THIS ONE, I go onto Nekoma! Jeez...This took a while...Thanks for reading, and enjoy!  
-AP**

* * *

 _The Awed Assistant Manager_

Yachi never rebelled against her mother.

Everything she did was what her mother wanted her to do. The electives she was going to take were probably going to be the ones her mother chose, and she was okay with that. She was okay with her entire life being laid out and planned by her parent.

Until volleyball.

It was then she realized that she wanted to stay there; in the strange, mystical aura that surrounded Karasuno's Boys' Volleyball Team. It was then she realized that her life truly belonged to not her fast-paced, busy mother, but her. Maybe it was simply Shimizu, maybe it was the enthusiasm, it could be really, anything. But that was untrue, that was wrong, because she knew why she reclaimed her life from her mother.

The team. The look in their eyes. The shock of Hinata, who's every action screamed 'Look at me!', who's every footstep was to be a better person, a better player. The composure of Daichi, who played with such a need to keep his team in order and safe and happy. The anger of Kageyama, who fought with a similar air to his 'enemy', his every action shouting for notice. The silence of Nishinoya in a game compared to his hyperactive usual attitude. The mental capacity of Tanaka, who seemed stupid, yes, but in a game, was nothing short of a genius. The arrogance of Tsukishima, who killed opponents' balls like they were nothing short of weak, even against amazing aces. The anxiety of Asahi, who managed, despite everything, to be an awesome player, even though he'd start crying if somebody slammed their locker too loud.

It wasn't just them, though. That was to list merely a few. Their passion, their hunger for victory, ultimately, that became the thing that drove Hitoka on, and whether or not her mother approved didn't seem relevant anymore, and her mother seemed happy that it didn't. Growing away from the family seemed something that her parent wanted, that neither of them wanted any other way.

It didn't take long for her mother to quickly become frustrated with her, though.

"The team, the team, the team, is all you talk about the team?!" She'd said once, slamming plates down too hard and cracking them on their marble sideboard. Since then, Yachi stopped talking about Karasuno at home, even though, on her worst days, they were the only thing keeping her going.

* * *

It was only a practice game, so she thought there was no shame in inviting her mother. The woman was in one of her good moods, and agreed to come, sitting on the bench and chatting with Coach Ukai and Takeda-sensei as the team warmed up. Hinata seemed to be trying to pick a fight with Kuroo, the captain of Nekoma, across the court. The taller guy just slyly smiled at the decoy.

Yachi wondered what was going on there, behind the scenes.

"Alright guys, do your best!" Ukai shouted, signalling the start of the game. Deadly serious about the practice, everyone put their hands in, including Kiyoko. They waited for a second, before Hinata laughed, pulling the blonde's arm into the circle. "KARASUNO, FIGHT!"

With a grin on her face, she let out a shout with the rest of the team. "OSSU!"

The game began. Kiyoko and Yachi stood at the side to allow the adults to have a seat, which also prevented the first-year from seeing her mother's reaction to her team. She simply shrugged and watched with a grin. Everything seemed to be working perfectly today, all their secret weapons, not that Nekoma didn't already know them like the back of their hands. Their blocking and killer receives still threw the team off, and suddenly, without thinking, she shouted.

"DON'T LET IT PUT YOU OFF! KEEP YOUR COOL OR YOU'LL NEVER WIN!" The team turned, and with a grin, nodded. Completely in unison, which was actually kind of creepy. She guessed they were just really, really tuned in to each other today. That's what teamwork is, after all. They didn't lose sight of their receives, and eventually, Nekoma's rearguard seemed to be getting frustrated. They'd get chance balls, but every spike was blocked or received.

After Nekoma's captain spiked, and was blocked by Tsukishima, he growled. "Dammit, Tsukki~! I'm regretting helping you now." The blond looked down on Kuroo with a cocky grin as he rotated back to rearguard and was switched with Yamaguchi for his serve. Tadashi grinned as he served, form just short of perfection, and gained an easy point.

21-20. They were down by one point. But Yamaguchi's serve was quickly received, and the spike got through easily. The team let out groans as the pinch-server switched with his friend, looking disappointed that he only scored one point.

22-20. They could still take back this set. They could still do it.

She sighed as Hinata slipped over when approaching a spike, missing the ball completely. Or not. 23-20, nearing match point, and the little ball of sunshine was injured? Yep, they were probably done for. The ginger protested, despite the fact he couldn't stand. but Takeda ordered Kiyoko to go with him to the Nurse's office. Just to make sure. Yachi shook suddenly, looking at her sensei in protest. "W-why didn't you send me?"

The teacher laughed, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "I thought this could be some kind of learning experience. Do you mind?" She shook her head, suddenly excited. Her time to act like a full manager; To act like Shimizu-senpai! They substituted Ennoshita in, in Hinata's place, and the game continued.

It wasn't long before the set was Nekoma's.

She sighed as they took a five-minute break, trying to be inspirational. "We can still take it back, guys! Don't be discouraged! And Kageyama!" She turned and patted him. "I know you're upset that your boyfriend is hurt, but I'm sure he'll be back soo-!" Yachi stopped, realizing her mistake, and clamped her hands over her mouth quickly with an apology. Tsukishima sniggered, and some of the other members started teasing the setter, who'd gone bright red.

"He's not my boyfriend! I-it's complicated!" The first-year protested as Tanaka stuck his tongue out, ruffling his hair with a laugh of 'suuuuure!'. As if on cue, they heard footsteps. The team turned to see Shimizu...on her own? "Where's Hinata?" The dark-haired girl sighed, rubbing the back of her head nervously, and spared a glance at their setter. "He kinda totally sprained his ankle. It wasn't broken, though, they're just bandaging it up. They say they'll send him back with crutches if he's better later." Kageyama moved forward, and Daichi turned, looking at the setter.

He sighed, seeing the determined fire in the boy's eyes. "Go." Sugawara nodded as Ukai informed him he'd be setter for the next set, looking resilient as he came back over to the team. Most of them already knew his signals, and Tsukishima got it down fast, simply nodding as the whistle blew, signifying the start of the second set.

It was going badly without the dynamic duo from the get-go. The team was off-sync working without them. Everyone seemed vaguely put off, and it wasn't long before the score was miles apart at 20-10. She sighed, tapping her foot impatiently. They needed some kind of motivation, but what?

She'd already tried lighting a fire under them, riling them up, or simply encouraging them, to no avail.

Neither her nor her senpai knew what to do, and she'd completely forgotten about the woman sitting on the bench with her teachers.

* * *

They lost.

It wasn't that much of a surprise with how the second set was going, but it was a disappointment to the team no less. Shimizu sighed. "We'll beat them one day." Most of the team perked up at her enthusiasm (Kiyoko, enthusiastic, of all people.) but were still noticeably down in the dumps. They all kept letting out defeated comments as they packed up their stuff, and they began walking towards the cafeteria.

Suddenly, Yachi's mother stood in front of the team, and they all halted easily, all of them basically dragging their feet along at that point. The woman said nothing, but raised a hand, and, to the shock of the entire team, slapped her daughter full strength around the face. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?! THAT'S ABOUT AS BAD MANAGING AS A FUCKING CEO FOR A TOY COMPANY!"

Tanaka stepped forward, with a loud shout. "HEY, LISTEN HERE-!" Daichi put an arm out, stopping him in his tracks. The bald boy looked at him questioningly, and the captain just shook his head. "Tanaka. She's got this. Wait." The third-year must've seen the fiery glare of the girl, or maybe he just trusted her to handle herself. Either way, she looked up, slap mark still prominent on her cheek. Her eyes were deadly.

"You might not think I'm a good manager, Mother." She lifted her head and wiped her watering eyes determinedly. "But that doesn't matter to me." The woman looked furious for a second as her daughter turned to the stunned teams standing behind her. "I don't need you anymore. I kinda realized when hanging out with these guys, that..." Yachi let out a bitter laugh at the irony, smiling at her team in particular. "You're a really bad person."

She turned to see her mother's shocked face, but didn't stop smiling. "And I'm not. I've never been like you. Maybe that's why you hate me so much." She let out another laugh, but now, it was realer. "It doesn't matter. Because I've got these guys." She gestured to the team with her grin still shining like a flashlight in a dark basement. "They say you can't choose your family, and they're right, y'know?"

Hitoka looked down at her mother with a happy smile, somehow completely unfazed by the woman. "I didn't choose these guys, they chose me. But..." She looked over to the limping Hinata down the hall, who was insisting he didn't need crutches, until Kageyama sighed and scooped the small boy up bridal style, causing his face to turn tomato red. She giggled a little, as did the rest of the team when they saw.

"I really wouldn't have it any other way."

* * *

 **AN: The Yachi chapter is done! I actually really liked this one...it has a lot of positive vibes, even though Karasuno totally got wrecked by Nekoma, haha. Anyways, Karasuno's finished now, so look forward to the Nekoma ones on their way. Thanks for reading! Review if you liked!  
-AP  
**


	12. The Wild Wing Spiker: Karasuno Part 12

**AN: I can't believe I forgot Tanaka...I'm so bad. Thanks to Akabane Kayo for reminding me...Jesus...I'm really off today...God. Sorry TANAKAAAA SENPAIIII FORGIIIIIIIIVE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! This was even one I had written in advance, but forgot to post...I'm so bad...Anyways, enjoy!  
-AP**

* * *

 _The Wild Wing Spiker_

Tanaka Ryuunosuke is a name that meant little to some people except those who'd ever met the guy. Predictably.

It meant something huge to those who did, though. Including the teams facing Karasuno. Narrowed eyes, trying to mark him, it was kind of amusing for the second-year, actually. People marked Asahi too of course, he was the ace. But they didn't look at him the same way they looked at Tanaka; weariness, annoyance. He annoyed other teams; He took pride in that fact.

Mental strength.

When first hearing the words directed at him by his senpais, he wondered what they meant. Strength was being muscly, being able to lift things, being able to fight. Or at least, that's what it had always been in the Tanaka household. So he asked Sugawara what him and Daichi meant. The boy had laughed.

"It's kind of like...Asahi's physically super strong, right?" Ryuu nodded, cocking his head to the side like a confused puppy. "But mentally...he has a lot of anxiety and panics easily. He can't keep himself under control when things go to hell, bless him." Azumane himself was gently apologizing to the amazing libero, Nishinoya, for bumping into him accidentally, without pissing the guy off about his height. Suga laughed, turning back to the then first-year. "But you? Sure, you're not the strongest kid in the world, but you keep yourself high up and don't get discouraged. Don't let yourself. It's really admirable."

There weren't many things that could throw Ryuunosuke off, but his senpai calling him admirable was one of those things. His eyes shined, and ever since then, he'd taken pride in the fact that he was mentally strong.

* * *

When Noya had come to him in the middle of their first year, blood streaming down his face, eyes full of tears and desperation, covered in black, blue and purple, he didn't ask. He didn't ask because another day, Yuu would blurt out everything, but today, all he needed was a place to stay and a shoulder to cry on...And a bandage or two. He didn't ask about the scars and he didn't ask about the bald patch on the very top of his head because he didn't need to know until Nishinoya wanted him to.

Everyone thought initially that Sugawara, Daichi and Asahi were the ones to trust. They were for most situations; They'd help, they'd keep you safe, they'd hold you close, and they'd make sure whoever hurt you got a kick in the ass, hard. And that was great. But sometimes you just needed someone to see, to nod, and to make sure you were okay. Not ask, not tell, not cry. Just see, and know, and help.

At least, that's what Noya said. That's what he said when he stopped wailing, and wiped his eyes, and let his friend clean his wounds and bandage him up, and was made to sleep in Ryuu's bed instead of the floor. He said he was amazing; Tanaka had shrugged with a cheeky smile, but truthfully, some days he was unsure, like anybody. He'd cling to the last slithers of self-esteem until his sister teased him, or Yuu punched him in the shoulder, or until just a simple 'nice kill' from his captain.

Because when Tanaka Ryuunosuke fell, he'd catch himself before rock bottom.

At least, that's what everyone said and thought.

* * *

Honestly, as he looked at Hinata Shoyo, he saw a lot of himself. A lot of himself, except this boy was more open with how he felt. Any upset would be sobbed out and dealt with. Another thing was that Hinata was short, fast and shone like a star, all things that Ryuu didn't have. He couldn't really blame it on the kid; He'd never been noticed in his life, after all. When he betted on Shoyo in the middle school game, though, he knew that boy would go to great heights to succeed what he wanted to. Literally.

When Shoyo came to him in the middle of Tanaka's second year, blood pouring from his nose, eyes full of sadness and pain, covered in black, blue, purple and yellow, for the first time in his life, Ryuunosuke asked. He asked, because he was scared. He hated to admit it in the manliness-fueled pit of his home, but he was scared, because Hinata was so small, so gentle and so very afraid. When the boy passed out in his arms, he could've screamed, and the kid was so light and fragile that Tanaka was afraid he'd break him.

When the orange-haired ball of fire woke up, laid gently onto Ryuu's bed like special china, with the wing spiker holding a washcloth and placing it on his head, he joked that he was surprised that his senpai was the mothering type. Tanaka resisted the urge to punch him in the arm in fake anger, and just grinned instead, laughing along with the boy. He tried to hold himself back from asking, too, but he asked anyway.

The decoy sighed. "Tanaka-senpai, I'm gay." He stopped, and the older boy wondered if it was for dramatic effect, until he realized the boy was expecting some sort of response. "Uh...yeah, I know." The ginger gawped like a goldfish at his elder, eyes comically wide, and there was a moment of stunned silence before he responded, voice quivering slightly. "What do you mean you know?!"

"Uh, no offense, Hinata, but you aren't exactly discreet about it. Anyway, why would it even matter?" Somehow, getting answers seemed better now; Maybe because mentally, Shoyo seemed worse off than Noya had ever been. The boy fiddled with the bedsheets and shifted uncomfortably. "I-I assumed...I mean, you're very into manliness...s-so..." Tanaka couldn't help but laugh at the kid's response, and he carefully ruffled his hair.

"Hinata, I'm like one of the only guys on the team who ISN'T gay. Even then I'm like...I dunno, at least a quarter gay." The younger seemed surprised, cocking his head to the side as Ryuu had done himself so many times before. "Wait...really?" The bald boy nodded with a wide grin. Despite being overwhelmingly manly, of course, he loved a good gossip on occasion. "Yep! Daichi and Suga are like the daddy and mommy, and believe me, they're SICKLY when people they're out to are around. Asahi's head over heels for Noya. Narita and Hisashi have been dating since first year and uh...there was a short amount of time where me and Chika-san dated." He blushed at the accidental use of his old nickname for his friend, and corrected himself with the boy's last name so not to seem suspicious to his kouhai. Then, he continued. "Yamaguchi and Tsukishima are basically the DEFENITION of puppy love. Like, seriously? You haven't noticed? And Kageyama, well..."

He put on a Cheshire cat grin and poked Hinata in the side. "He's totally completely in love with YOU." The first-year blushed bright red, but his smile grew bashful and he giggled a little. "M-me? R-really?" Tanaka nodded determinedly, curve of his lips still present as he straightened his back like an army general and barked out the reply. "What kind of senpai doesn't know his kouhai's crushes?! A bad one! He told me himself."

 _He told me himself._ The words that had set up many a couple in the spiker's time. He relished in the thought that most of the time, he set the couples up.

Mental strength, huh? Hinata reached for his phone, and began texting Kageyama quickly, blush not fading from his cheeks. Ryuu laughed to himself and crossed his arms. If mental strength was anything, it was making a sobbing boy smile. And making sure he never cries without someone around to wipe the tears, and that he never falls without somebody to catch him.

Shoyo told him everything.

But Tanaka Ryuunosuke didn't need to know. He comforted, but he didn't need to.

After all, he already succeeded.

* * *

 **AN: OK SO SORRY THIS WAS LATE! I'M SUPER DUMB...IT'S IN THE BOTTOM OF MY FOLDER SO I COMPLETELY FORGOT! On the other hand, you finally get to see all my ships. Don't worry, most of them won't be too present in the Nekoma chapters anyway, so if you don't ship it, it's done, chill. I haven't decided on the chapter titles for Nekoma yet, so it might take longer. Be warned. Also, review if you liked, and thanks for reading!  
-AP  
**


	13. The Aggressive Ace: Nekoma Part One

**AN: WOO! THE BEGINNING OF NEKOMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. Obviously I've got to start with the ace, our fave, Yamamoto...What a bae...Let's do this! Also, I don't know the whole Nekoma titles yet, just a handful, so when I know them all in alphabetical order I'll post it on whichever comes next! Enjoy!  
-AP**

* * *

 _The Aggressive Ace_

Taketora Yamamoto appeared as many things. Scary, intimidating, likes to pick fights. Those who knew him, however, could debunk most of these impressions. For instance, in most situations, Tora was about as scary as a kitten. His intimidation techniques made him look like an idiot. The only thing he did do was pick fights, but most of the time, not for himself or for fun, but for the safety of the team.

Power. He had a lot of it, apparently. He liked that about himself; He was powerful. But he never usually talked about himself singularly, at least, in his head. In his head, it was always the team. The team is powerful, the team is scary, the team is intimidating, but his specific addition was that the team deserved protecting. His team needed protecting.

Kuroo often told him how unnecessary his protectiveness of the team was. However much the ace respected his captain, he'd always disagree. Kuroo, Yaku, Kai, they could take care of themselves most of the time. But most of the second and first-years could easily fall victim to bullying from other teams, and had in the past. The wing spiker wasn't about to let people hurt his team, no matter how much they insisted they didn't need protecting.

He wasn't always like this. He'd always been protective, sure. But not like this.

When him and Kenma were beginning their first year, and joined the club, they didn't talk. Or rather, Kenma didn't talk, and it's not like he did now they were second years, either. Despite that, the team were close-knit by the time of about a week into their first year. Everyone took care of each other, that was just how it worked. Kuroo was the one who tied them down, always. That was just who he was; Keep people happy for themselves and keep people kind for everybody else.

However, after a win in one of their practice matches, Kozume didn't come back to the hotel they were staying in. This school wasn't part of the Fukurodani Group, but they'd asked for a practice game before the first training camp, so they were staying at this hotel for a night before they went to the school in the morning. It wasn't that big of a concern at first; Kenma dozed off a lot, daydreamed, wandered, strolled. It wasn't unlikely that he'd just gotten himself lost or something, and that he'd be there in a matter of minutes.

Fifteen minutes later, it was obvious that wasn't so.

Kuroo was the worse for worry. The boy was pacing back and forth, checking his phone every five seconds, brows knitted together in distress. The middle blocker kept mumbling to himself to stop himself from panicking, but it didn't seem to be working at the time. "He'd call me if he was in trouble or really lost, right? Or at least email me or text me or..." Yaku slapped him on the back with a sunny smile.

"I'm sure he'll get back to us soon, Kuroo! Don't worry!"

The libero was right. It was about half an hour after the rest of the team arrived when he stumbled in, whilst the second-years were bathing. (Kuroo had been dragged.) Yamamoto looked up, and ran towards the setter, who, after shutting the door, almost immediately collapsed. The wing spiker was uncharacteristically panicked, as were the other teammates as they rushed towards the quiet boy.

Blood was dripping out of the corner of his mouth, and bruises were forming all over Kenma's face, an obvious blackening bump forming on the side of the boy's head, blood pouring from the gash at it's peak. Fukunaga got a towel and wrapped it around the boy's face in attempt to stop the bleeding, and then stood, yelling that he was going to find their coach.

By the time Kuroo rushed in, Kozume was coming to, groaning gently as he pried open his eyes with reluctance. His best friend rushed, pulling the small boy into his lap and cradling him gently. Silent tears were dripping down the older boy's face, and he was shaking. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I should never have left you alone, I'm sor-!" Kenma squinted and put a hand over Kuroo's mouth, shaking his head with a jerk that could be mistaken for a shocked quiver if not paying attention. Then, the small boy wiped the boy's face with his hand and smiled weakly.

"I'm okay, Kuroo-san. It's okay." The middle blocker shook his head firmly, and slipped the boy onto a futon gently so not to hurt him even more. Yamamoto came over, eyes flaming. "Who did this, Kenma?! WHO?!" The setter sighed a little and blinked slowly, looking at the wing spiker strangely before answering the question. "Uh...Some guys from the other team were tailing me after I lagged behind...They...were kinda pissed off, I guess? And then one of them hit me with like, I dunno, a pipe or something? And I kinda passed out, I guess. It was the uh, the wing spiker, that tall ginger one...I'm really tired, can you, can you leave it, Tora?"

Kuroo immediately fussed, talking about the dangers of concussion and saying that Kozume would have to wait until at least Coach checked him, though it would be safer to take him to a hospital, but the setter protested to that without missing a beat. Yamamoto had all he needed, though, and he stood, face dark, and walked out of their bedroom. If all of Nekoma were cats, then, right at that moment, Taketora Yamamoto was nothing short of a tiger.

* * *

"LEAVE THEM ALONE! WE WON'T TOUCH YOUR SETTER AGAIN, OKAY, JESUS CHRIST, JUST STOP IT!" The ringleader called as Yamamoto marched towards his cronies. The wing spiker turned, eyes basically growing, and rushed back in front of the orange-haired third-year, slamming him by his neck into the wall. He laughed manically. "No, you won't. You won't touch any of us. You won't call us, you won't play with us, and if I see any of your faces again I won't hesitate to tear off every one of your tiny DICKS, SHOVE THEM DOWN YOUR THROAT, RIP YOUR HEADS OFF AND SHOVE THEM SO FAR UP YOUR ASS THAT YOU'RE FACE TO FACE WITH YOUR PISSHOLE! GOT THAT?!"

The boy nodded, and was dropped, shaking, to the ground, as the then first year marched away. "Now go, before I change my mind about letting you assholes live." The ginger's eyes widened, and he dragged his cronies from the ground before picking himself up, stumbling on his way as all three of them ran for their lives in the opposite direction of the vicious boy.

Said vicious monster was all smiles when he reached the training camp the next morning.

Though he vowed something to himself that day. Nobody ever went near his team. If anybody so much as looked wrong at his teammates, he'd destroy them. It was different with Bokuto and his team, though; Anybody Kuroo trusted, Taketora trusted.

* * *

He doubted Shrimpy from Karasuno could hurt their setter, but he tried to intimidate him anyway.

Kenma sighed, and after they walked in opposite directions, the setter turned to Tora. "He's my friend, you moron. He kept me company when I was lost. You need to calm down; He's not even VAGUELY threatening." The ace shook his head, and then rubbed the back of it sheepishly as he was told off by his setter. Kuroo looked like he was going to burst out laughing; Kenma rarely ever told anybody off. "I'm sorry. I can't help it."

The wing spiker sighed a little, rolling his lip between his teeth and avoiding eye contact. "I just don't want anybody to hurt you, that's all." Kozume sighed and shook his head with a fond, tiny smile, and patted his ace on the shoulder. "I know. That's why I'm not gonna let Yaku kick you." Yamamoto let out a confused 'huh' before turning to see their libero stood in position to literally kick his ass.

The libero narrowed his eyes and brought his leg down. "Give your word, Kenma." He said quietly, still glaring at the ace, who held his hands up in a position of surrender. The setter let out a quiet giggle, and then kept giggling. It wasn't long before the entire team was laughing; This was their happy place, their safe place.

Definitely, Taketora's safe place had to be wherever his team were.

* * *

 **AN: YAY! IT'S DONE! What do you think? I don't know why I'm talking when you can't answer...But anyway. Yeah! Sorry it took long, I'm trying to brainstorm ideas for titles. I have all the plotlines down, it's the titles that are biting my ass. If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Anyway, thanks for reading! Review if you liked!  
-AP  
**


	14. The Conscientious Captain: Nekoma Part 2

**AN: This title isn't so good...I'm having a bit of trouble with Nekoma titles. But yeah, anyways. Trigger warning for abuse and homophobic language. Thanks for reading. Enjoy!  
-AP**

* * *

 _The Conscientious Captain_

"OUCH! GOD DAMMIT BOKUTO!" The captain yelled out as the ball bounced off of his face and to the other side of the net, where Akaashi caught it and ordered the other two to apologize. Bokuto just grinned and put on a mask of fake innocence. "I'd NEVER purposefully spike into your face, Kuroo! How dare you accuse me of such things?!" Hinata was giggling despite the fact his head was bowed in apology.

Kuroo sighed, rubbing his face with his hand with a fond smile at his friend. It was just the lively banter that kept their friendship going, but for some reason, the middle blocker found himself sweating a little, his heart pumping faster than normal. He shook it off and said he was fine, asking Akaashi to continue, who threw the ball to their side, claiming that giving them the next serve was the least they could do to compensate for the bruise on his face tomorrow.

Tsukishima served. The game continued, things were good. Akaashi tossed to Shrimpy (after telling Bokuto until he apologized properly, he wouldn't be tossing to his ace) and he only spiked past being blocked by the skin of his teeth, the short boy glaring at his usual teammate with unbridled rage. Tsukki just smiled that shit-eating grin, looking down on Hinata.

Bokuto changed the score again, and then the serve was back in their favor. Hinata served pretty normally, but it went on the top of the net and fell, much to his dismay. The ace of Fukurodani, apparently concerned about his surrogate son, went over. "No, see, when you serve, if you try to get the ball over by closing your eyes and using brute force, it won't work. That works with spikes, sure, but not serves." He took the small boy's arm. "You're serving kinda like this." He did a sweeping motion. "But you gotta serve more like this." He pulled it up, left the arm in the air for a moment, and then left it to fall to his side. "Where your arm points after an overhead serve is where it's gonna go, so if it's pointing at the net, it's gonna go onto the net."

The little ray of sunshine nodded. Kuroo watched as he picked up the ball, obviously taking the ace's tips to heart. "You make a good teacher." The captain commented as the ball sailed over the net, and he received it. Bokuto simply shrugged as Tsukki spiked, but the shrimp dive received it, looking up with a cheeky smile at the other middle-blocker, who let out a loud 'tsk'. "I wouldn't know anything about it if I never met you, idiot."

"I know. I'm basically complimenting myself, otherwise I never would've said anything." The ace laughed brightly and grinned as Akaashi tossed. Hinata seemed frustrated, still barely avoiding blocks. Bokuto turned, and cocked his head to the side at the boy's frustrated expression. "Hey hey hey! What're you doin', lookin' all sad like that, Shibi-Chan! We're winning!" The decoy shook his head as Akaashi changed the score. He looked at the floor and wiped sweat off of his face with his arm. "It's just..." He sighed a little as Akaashi served. The serve was easily received, and the setter shrugged as the spikers looked back at him when their block was easily avoided. Hinata turned back to their team's captain.

"I can't hit Kageyama's tosses as good. Hell, I can't even hit Akaashi's tosses, and he's tossing all floaty so I don't miss! How pathetic is that?! I'll never be the ace if I can't spike a perfectly good toss." Akaashi stopped, and cocked his head to the side slightly. Shrimpy must be better than all of them thought if he could tell what type of toss people were using. Bokuto put up a time-out symbol, and the game stopped. "Hey, look. It's fine. You're a great spiker. Amazing, even. The Little Giant couldn't beat you! All the teams are wary of you. Even ours, and we're the best!" Hinata giggled slightly as the older boy ruffled his hair.

Then, the ball of fire that was the decoy turned to the floor again as the others took a chug of their water bottles, all secretly listening concernedly to the conversation. "I dunno. I guess sometimes I think my dad was right...The only thing anyone like me would be good for would be ball boy." Kuroo furrowed his eyebrows and decided to intervene, the bruise forming obviously on the left side of his face. "Hey, wait, why would your dad say that?!" Shoyo looked up, and widened his eyes in realization, letting out a quick curse, and pasting on an obviously fake smile. "Oh, it's nothing to worry about, it was just an argument we had a long time ago, and-"

The captain immediately interrupted. "Your face doesn't exactly say it was a long time ago, Hinata." He'd already, of course, seen the bruises littering the boy's arms, barely healing, but he just thought the kid had been too into receiving or something. It'd been known to happen; Most liberos were commonly covered in bruises from practicing receives so much. But now, hearing about the boy's father, he had a feeling it was something else. The orange-haired first-year stumbled over his words, fiddling with his fingers before sighing. "I...I guess...My dad's not really the nicest." His voice was getting quieter by the second. "And um...he can get aggressive...and vleouirnt..." He stuttered quickly over the last word, and then bit his lip at the weirdly in unison 'what' that followed.

"...and violent..." He said properly, but it was basically a whisper.

"Oh my god." Nobody expected Tsukishima to be the first to say something, but the boy was uncharacteristically emotional. "So that's why you skipped for so long?! Weren't you just, I dunno, ill?! YOU CAN'T JUST KEEP DOING THAT! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US?!"

"Go to bed, Tsukki." Kuroo said it quietly but darkly. "That's enough from you." The blocker turned to glare at the captain, but flinched slightly in seeing the flames in his eyes, and nodded. Lev had his eyes wide open, and Akaashi sighed, nodding at the others to tell them it was okay, and then shoving the first-year away, towards the cafeteria.

"Hinata. You don't have to tell us anything, but we're here to help, okay?" The captain said it gently. Bokuto was concerned, but didn't have any idea how to deal with this situation. Then, his mind flitted back to a memory from a long time ago. "Kuroo..." The ace whispered it, and the middle blocker glared at him, shaking his head quickly. "There are some things Shibi-Chan doesn't need to know, Bokuto." He said firmly.

"I know. But I think he'd better open up to you if you told him..." The spiker trailed off, remembering not to pressure his friend. "It's your decision. Sorry." Hinata was looking between the two, confused. "Tell me about what?"

Kuroo sighed and smiled a little nervously. "Well, in my first-year, I was dating this guy. From another team, y'know. I know it can't be the same, it's your father, but this guy wasn't very nice. Uh, actually, in my second year, he beat up Kenma. That was kinda why I dumped him. He smacked me about a lot, but I dealt with it. It wasn't until he messed with my team that I saw how much of an asshole he was." He looked at Bokuto with a now sad smile. "Bokuto found out during a game. Apparently, he beat the total shit out of the guy back then."

"Oh. I see." Hinata replied almost robotically, and looked down. "I'm sorry. I'm sure yours was much worse, anyway, I shouldn't even be complaining." The captain shook his head, only now noticing the purple peeking out from under his collar. With a grave expression, he asked if he could see what the boy's father had done, to make sure he didn't need a nurse.

At first, Kuroo was relieved it wasn't worse, at least, seeing the front of the boy's chest, though Bokuto was already teary-eyed and clinging to the captain's wrist, squeezing his eyes shut and burying his face into his back. Kuroo understood immediately; The ace didn't want or need to see anymore.

The owl-like boy looked up when the middle blocker gasped though, because, when Hinata turned, on his back, very clearly, there was carved a single, painful word for both of the older boys.

F-A-G.

The area around the harsh, deep cuts was red and sore, and there were bruises around the writing. They were barely scabbing over, looking as if they could begin bleeding again from the slightest bump. Also notable was the round bruise, stretching from the front of the decoy's neck to the back, and noticeable bruises on his hips and waist. Bokuto balled his hands into fists and Kuroo's shirt, and shoved his face back into his friend's shoulder blade, sobbing uncontrollably.

Hinata was shaking, and the captain saw tears dripping onto the floor, and told him quietly to put his shirt back on. The boy did, and then turned, even more upset about the obvious distress of the ace he looked up to. "I-I'm s-s-sorry, B-Bokuto-senpai...I'm really sorry. Please stop c-crying." The ace cried more, and then sobbed out a muffled answer. "I-it's not b-because of you, y-you d-did n-n-nothing wrong." He sniffed and lifted his face up, tears streaming down it like waterfalls mid-spring. "I-I just remembered something I-I didn't w-want to, is all."

Kuroo's face immediately went blank, and he pulled away from the spiker almost angrily. "Bokuto. Go. Go to Akaashi. He's better at this than me." The ace looked at the captain's back. "B-but, but K-Kuroo-!" He protested, but the middle blocker turned, eyes scarily dark, and made eye contact. The ace shivered and took a hesitant step back. Suddenly, causing both the spikers to jump, he let out a yell. "I SAID GO, BOKUTO!"

There was silence.

There was a sharp intake of breath.

And then Bokuto ran, sobbing still, out of the gym, towards the cafeteria.

"Y-you didn't have to make him leave." Hinata said gently so not to provoke the captain more, but Kuroo's shoulders loosened, and he sighed a little, turning back to the decoy. "I know. He needed to. He wouldn't have if I didn't yell. And he'd say some things I wouldn't want him to if he stayed." The orange-haired boy nodded quickly, and then looked at the floor. "S-so. I-I guess I'm not welcome to practice here anymore."

"Wait, why the hell not?" Nekoma's captain cocked his head to the side. "You're hard to block. It's exhilarating." He protested, with a fond smile to try and comfort the boy. Hinata looked up, alarmed. "B-But...I'm...I'm gay! I-I'm a-" Kuroo put a hand over the boy's mouth and shook his head so vigorously the other swore it would fall off. He took it off as the boy stopped. "There is nothing wrong with that. Plus, didn't you hear me? I dated a guy, silly."

"I-I know, b-but Bokuto, a-and Tsukki and Lev and Akaashi..." The cat-like captain put on a Cheshire cat grin, eyes looking near mischievous. He stood, hands on hips. "Oho! Well..." He paused, presumably for effect. "WE'RE ALL STUNNINGLY HOMOSEXUAL!" He yelled it proudly, and got the giggle from the crow he was hoping for. "I mean, Akaashi's actually demisexual, and Lev's probably got some kind of cat kink or something, but the others and me are totally gay as hell."

"T-Tsukishima's gay?!" The ball of sunshine seemed to have returned to his usual state, immediately beginning to gossip about how he looked at Yamaguchi, and noting that, but thinking it was just friendship things. After a long rant about how he couldn't believe Tsukki was gay, because he never acted like it, Hinata took a deep breath, and then sighed. He looked down again. "U-uh...y-you aren't...gonna...tell anyone...are you?"

"Of course not, Shibi-Chan. Now go get some food before they close the cafeteria. I'll deal with clean up." The decoy nodded and rushed out, despite his injuries, and burst into the cafeteria without missing a beat. Kuroo sighed and shook his head to himself. How the hell did that kid even have so much energy with the injuries he had, let alone play volleyball?

He guess he'd never know.

He closed his eyes as he packed up the balls, repressing images he knew he didn't want to remember. Of dark nights, alone. Of dark nights, not so alone, bruised in corners, crouching. Of dark nights of being dragged onto beds, no matter how much he shouted for the older boy to stop, to leave him alone, to please not do what he knew he would anyway.

He shook his head as if batting the images away. He knew what Bokuto was remembering. He felt it, too. But the captain couldn't afford to be bringing his past into other people's problems; Especially not scared, alone, gentle, anxious first-years. Because Kuroo knew one thing above all.

When Bokuto Koutarou looked at the black and blue bruises of Hinata Shouyou, he remembered a small, scared first-year middle-blocker, crying in the bathroom, wiping blood from a cut on his stomach with toilet paper, hoping his team wouldn't hear.

He remembered Kuroo Tetsurou on the day that he met him.

* * *

 **AN: This was actually painful to write...god help me. My HCverse is legitimately killing me. Also...I don't know whether to make it BokuAka or BoKuro? Tell me which you'd prefer, if you can. Thanks for reading!  
-AP  
**


	15. The Listening Libero: Nekoma Part Three

**AN: gooood this is hard. I'm really flopping with the Nekoma titles. But anyway, here's the Yaku chapter...my bae...leggo! Remember to enjoy! Warning for abuse mentions.  
-AP**

* * *

 _The Listening Libero_

"...and when I told him to report it, he said that people would just think he did it himself, and I hate to say it, but he's probably right." Yaku didn't answer, but he knew his captain didn't want nor need him to. The boy sipped on his juice box almost aggressively. He looked up as Kuroo sighed, and decided to speak. "Well, I don't think his team'd be like that. I mean, I'm not really that good at the dynamics of Karasuno. They're kinda like a bunch of Levs." He waved his hands around vaguely. "Just, all over the place."

Kuroo nodded as the two continued walking. For some reason, the middle blocker always took his libero's words to heart. The smaller boy continued. "But anyway, they're really close-knit, like our team. Except we walk along the line like a tightrope, whereas Karasuno runs inside the line, but completely out of control. You and Karasuno's captain are pretty alike, and I kinda noticed the similarities. I don't think I'll ever be at the level of Nishinoya Yuu, though." He added the last bit as an afterthought, but the captain noticed it quickly anyway. "Yeah, but he's all over the place, too."

"I guess." Yaku replied, finishing his juice box and throwing it into a convenient trashcan. "But not when he plays. I'm louder during play, but that libero...he's quiet. No emotional baggage ever follows him into the game. He's always strangely organized, like he's calculating. It's weird, but I appreciate that." Kuroo simply shrugged, pulling his bag further up his shoulder. "I wouldn't think someone like Nishinoya would have any emotional baggage."

"Well, you don't see the world like I do, you ass." The libero retorted, and his friend and captain simply laughed, shaking his head fondly as the boy continued. "He's got a lot of secrets, that guy. None of my business, though. I keep me to me, and he keeps him to him. That reminds me," Yaku stopped to sit down, not tired, but lazy, and the middle blocker plopped himself down beside the boy. "What's with you and Shibi-Chan? He's like a son to you or something."

"I guess he trusts me. I dunno what I did to deserve it, Yaku, honestly. I don't even know how to help him most of the time. Apparently, he doesn't even tell Kenma or his teammates half of this stuff." The captain shuddered a little. "It's kinda overwhelming sometimes, actually. He's gone through so much, poor kid, and I can't do anything, but I'm the only person he's telling."

"Don't beat yourself up, Kuroo. If he was confident enough to tell someone for them to do something, he would. He just needs you to listen, that's all. You of all people should know what that's like, ranting at me and Kenma constantly." The raven-haired boy turned, and then cocked his head to the side slightly as they stared at the abandoned street. "I didn't think of it like that, I guess."

"You don't think much, idiot." The captain laughed and punched his friend jokingly in the arm, before turning back to the starry sky glittering above both of their heads. He sighed. "It's just that, he needs help, but he doesn't really seem to want it..." Yaku hesitated for a second as Kuroo blinked quickly, wiping away unshed tears. "I think Shibi-Chan wants help. He's trying to protect his dad."

"Why would he-?!"  
"Why'd you protect your ex?" The libero said simply, and the middle blocker stopped suddenly and shuddered a little. "'Cause I thought he loved me." The boy seemed tearful, and Yaku cocked his head to the side, and then shook it.

"Dude, tons of people love you way more than that asshole." He stood, and helped his friend to his feet as a signal for them to keep walking. "Besides, the point is that Shrimpy loves his parents. He wants to keep them safe, but he doesn't feel safe. It probably tears him up." Kuroo nodded, eyebrows still furrowed in concern. "Yeah, but what can I do?"

"Honestly, it's best to just let the kid work it out for himself, I think, Ku-chan." Yaku widened his eyes at the accidental use of the nickname. The captain spluttered, and turned, a look of surprise on his face. "Ku-chan?! You haven't called me that in forever!"

"Shut up." The libero grumbled, crinkling his nose and glaring arrows at his friend, who was still laughing. "You shut up, Ya-chan!"

* * *

"DROP THE -CHAN!" Yaku yelled for the fiftieth time, but Kuroo just grinned in fake innocence, mischief twinkling in his eyes. "What's the problem, Ya-chan? You didn't have a problem when we were young-OOF!" The libero turned, and Lev then learned that spin-kicking was not limited to him.

Their captain rubbed his back, but the grin didn't fade from his face. Kenma came in slowly, consumed in some kind of game. Yaku stuck his tongue out, and yelled. "LIKE YOU CAN SAY ANYTHING, KU-CHAN!" Kenma snorted, looking up from his game and giggling uncontrollably, shoving the console in his backpack and covering his mouth with his hand to stifle his laughter.

Kuroo blushed as red as their volleyball uniforms, and marched over to Kenma. He didn't do anything, just leaned down to the younger boy's ear and whispered something incomprehensible to the others in the team. The setter shuddered, blushing almost immediately, expression turning bashful.

"NO FLIRTING IN PRACTICE, KU-CHAN!" Yaku ordered, and the taller turned, glaring at the boy for interrupting. "I'm the captain, Yaku. Not you."

"Only because liberos can't be captains." He protested, smiling. Lev had that starry look of admiration on his face, as usual. That was, until Yaku turned around and yelled for receiving practice; Then, the tall boy's expression turned to that of pure horror as he tried to escape.

The libero quickly stopped the boy, and they began practice as a group shortly after. He was happy he'd got Kuroo smiling; The third-year was obviously stressed and worried at the moment. He had all right to be, of course; Yaku was very aware that Kuroo viewed Shrimpy and the blond one from Karasuno as children of sorts, younger brothers, maybe.

He sighed. He had no business with Karasuno other than rivalry, but it wasn't that way for other members of the team. But he was glad they were loosening up at least a little.

Until Kenma's phone dinged, and Kuroo leaned over to read it, and both of their faces immediately dropped.

* * *

 **AN: THERE IT IS! I'm not good at writing the Nekoma kids, forgive me if this was really OOC. Anyway, if you liked, review! Also tell me any chapters. And I think I'mma go with BokuAka and KurooxKenma on the ships. Anyways, thanks!**

 **-AP**


	16. The Loving Lion: Nekoma Part Four

**AN: This is really upsetting omg...In case you were wondering the pronunciation "Lev" in Russian translates to lion, which is why the title is what it is! Warnings for selfharm mention, suicidal thoughts, and abuse mentions. I swear I'm a sadist...Enjoy!  
-AP**

* * *

 _The Loving Lion_

Lev was never really good with emotions.

When he was 5, his mother died, and yet, he had no reaction. His sister's sobbing on his shoulder got no reaction from him, and the clinging, and the apologies, and the useless, petty words of people who barely knew any of them.

Throwing on a mask of confidence became easy, and before he knew it, he was like his old self again, if not better. More confident. He even took up sports again.

See, Haiba's reaction to any form of grief had always been to just ignore it. Pretend it wasn't there, that it didn't exist, that nothing was really bad in the world. It was bad, he knew, and it barely helped, but it was his reaction nonetheless.

When he heard that Hinata's father was violent, he did the same thing. He closed his eyes and ignored it because he had no idea how to help or deal with it. Him and the boy were friendly rivals, and he purposefully ignored the first-year's pain.

In the next practice game, when the decoy was spiking, his shorts rode up, displaying messy, deep lines no doubt extending further than his thighs. Obviously though, they had been planned specifically not to show in the boy's volleyball uniform.

Nobody else noticed, so Lev ignored it.

He ignored and ignored and ignored.

It was easier that way. It was always easier that way. He confessed that to Kenma after nightmares of finding his hanging mother in her bedroom after coming home from Elementary school.

"I don't think it's good to hide things like that, Lev. They'll always get worse anyway." The setter had advised, and Lev did the only thing he'd ever been good at. He ignored it. Because he didn't know how not to hide it anymore, how to notice it anymore, how to talk about it anymore. He hadn't for a very long time now.

Eventually, after seeing the wing spiker eyeing his thighs, Hinata had confessed. He'd pulled his shorts up slightly to show the scars, and grinned a little sadly. "It's getting better, though! I promise!" Lev had smiled, and he believed him. He saw the lie in his eyes, but he trusted the small boy anyway.

He's getting better.

He's getting better.

He's getting better, and he'll be okay.

Lev found it bothering him, for the first time in his entire life. He didn't believe the mantra he was chanting to himself 24/7, and he didn't believe his fellow first-year. He had a bad feeling in his stomach. He knew what it meant, because it was the same feeling he'd gotten when his mother hadn't picked him up from school on the day that changed the boy's life forever.

So the wing spiker had decided to travel to visit him. It'd be a surprise, of course; Maybe it was a long way to go to soothe worry, but he didn't care, and when he explained, his sister understood. She'd make excuses for the boy for school.

He walked from the bus stop towards Hinata's house. It was a while, unfortunately; the smaller boy lived basically in the middle of nowhere. Lev enjoyed the scenery; He'd never explored much of Miyagi before, at least, not around where the crow lived.

He found himself on a large bridge, looking down at a raging river below. It was obviously deep. It reminded him vaguely of the boy he was visiting; looked innocent, but deadly if you underestimated it. He looked up, and was surprised to see the ball of sunshine a few feet away from him.

"Hey Hina-!" He stopped, realizing the decoy was standing on the edge of the bridge. The ginger boy turned, and his eyes widened. "L-Lev?!" He shouted, not moving from the edge. Because of his height, it only took a couple quick strides for the half-Russian to reach him. He didn't even ask, just placed his hands under the boy's arms and lifted him back over the protective barrier, before throwing the protesting spiker over his shoulder and marching towards the boy's house.

Eventually, he stopped on a bench, exhausted, and put Hinata down beside him. "Ezplain!" He slurred it slightly, his accent showing his Russian side, for once. The smaller boy bit his lip and fiddled. Only now did Lev notice the clear bruises all over Hinata's face, a clear black eye standing out against his bright hair.

"D-do I even need to?! Y-you already...G-get the idea." The decoy responded, avoiding eye contact with his friends. "You zaid you were getting better!" The taller let his voice slur slightly, not even caring about keeping his voice level right now. "Yeah, well, what was I supposed to do?! TELL YOU?! ALL YOU EVER DO IS IGNORE THINGS! IGNORE ME!"

"What?" The boy's voice softened all of a sudden. "I-I'm not ignoring you. I mean, I am. I mean- look, it's really complicated, okay?" Hinata gripped his sleeves and stood, too quick for the wing spiker to stop him again because of his tiredness. "Well, you ask me to explain?"

He turned, and his eyes conveyed pain, but his expression was livid. "It's complicated, Lev."

With that, he ran.

At first, Lev tried to run after him, but if Hinata was anything, he was fast. It wasn't long before the wing spiker lost him. He wondered what to do now, because he'd successfully pissed off his only source of direction in the entire prefecture, and had nowhere to stay, and was lost.

So he called Kenma. And Kenma called Kuroo, and Kuroo called Daichi, who picked Lev up. The Russian didn't explain why he was there, and the captain of Karasuno didn't ask. "I'm guessing you're here for Hinata. He's been missing for weeks, kid. Sorry." He said it blankly as his mother drove.

"Asahi says you can stay in his spare room for now. I'd encourage you to go home." The car screeched to a stop, and the woman driving it wove with a soft smile. Daichi didn't even look as they drove off.

The ace was waiting in front of his door, and lead the boy into the spare room. "Uh, so, make yourself at home! However long you're staying is fine with me, haha."

Lev paused. How long was he staying? Daichi had basically demanded that the wing spiker went home, and no doubt Kenma and Kuroo would be pissed if he didn't show up at practice after they found out through these circumstances that the excuses were really lies.

Then, he remembered.

Tears gathering in the corners of pained, chocolate eyes, usually bursting with life, that already looked as if they had died, blank, but upset at the same time, glazed over. A head of orange hair sprinting away from him, dripping tears onto the dark pavement.

 _"ALL YOU EVER DO IS IGNORE EVERYTHING!"_

Lev shuddered, the movement moving all the way up and then back down his body. He turned to the gentle and generous ace. "I'd rather stay until Hinata comes back, if your parents don't mind." He bowed his head. "Please." He let a hint of emotion slip through his usual barrier. Azumane looked surprised, but nodded quickly. "O-Of course! It's fine."

Soon, after making awkward small talk, the ace left.

Lev threw himself onto the bed, and for the first time since he was a young boy and had injured his knee, he cried. He truly cried, wailing into his pillow, clinging to it for comfort, as the tears slipped out, uncontrollable. Not only because he'd lost one of his best friends, but also because he had the strange feeling still, now confirmed by Hinata's actions.

It wouldn't be long until someone found him like they'd found Lev's mother.

And that thought made the spiker never want to move again.

* * *

 **AN: Ouchie. This was rly angsty...I really do have a trying-to-kill characters problem...Damn. Anyways, this isn't LevHina, they're just like, my BROTP. Review any ideas, or if you liked, or if you didn't! Thanks for reading!  
-AP**


	17. The Merry Middle Blocker: Nekoma Part 5

**AN: Ok forgive me, I'm kinda bad at writing Inuoka. Sou? So? Soo? I dunno but I'm using the first. Inuoka has DPD in my hcverse, so that's why he's being so needy, I guess. Also, I've decided to make it unrequited LevHina for the sake of plot. Anyways, yeah, this was the best title I could come up with, I did tell you I was struggling. Enjoy!  
-AP**

* * *

 _The Merry Middle Blocker_

Inuoka Sou was admittedly, upset he was no longer a regular. But Lev was better than him, and regrettable as that was, he didn't have a problem with the kid.

What he did have a problem with was Lev's relationship with Hinata Shoyo.

He couldn't claim Hinata, of course; they met once, and anyone was allowed to be friends with the decoy. Most people were by default, actually. Hinata was just friends with everybody. But it wasn't long after the first training camp that Shoyo stopped paying attention to him.

And started paying attention to Lev.

It wasn't like Inuoka was dependent entirely on the middle blocker who made him feel alive for the first time in a while, but he needed him. Sou knew that he needed him. But Hinata didn't need Sou.

When he realized that, it was like he was in a car, at full speed, and the car had slammed full velocity into a brick wall. He felt like he'd lost a part of him, like in the wreckage, his arm got trapped and had to be amputated. It was hard enough not being on the court because of that damn Haiba kid, but now he had to go and steal Inuoka's friends too?

He didn't let it bother him too much when Shoyo himself was around. The boy usually talked to him at least once. But he was grumpy enough without his friend around, without Lev and Kenma always talking about him. During the second training camp, even Kuroo, Yamamoto and Yaku joined them.

"CAN YOU GUYS SHUT UP FOR ONE SECOND?!" He shouted, and the others looked up, startled. Inuoka sighed and pulled his pillow onto his chest, clinging to it. "Please?" He added it as a weak afterthought, his team still looking at him, shocked.

"Inuoka, are you okay?" Lev asking it was the last straw. The worst part was, his eyes and expression were sincere; he actually cared, and that made it so much damn worse than it was before. Sou stood. "No, I'm not." He turned on Haiba, expression harsh.

"You stole my position, you stole my friends, is there anything else you need, huh, Lev?! The clothes off my back, maybe?! Go ahead, it's not like anybody's stopped you before!" The middle blocker paled considerably, and started shaking. "I'm s-sorry. I-I didn't...I never meant for...I had no idea you felt like that." Lev was clinging to his night shirt and biting the inside of his lip, looking down.

"Forgive me, Inuoka-san. I knew I should've stayed a bench-warmer." It was all the light-haired boy said before he stood and rushed out, wiping furiously at his face. The rest of the team looked at their substitute middle blocker accusingly. He sighed. "What?"

"Go after him, Inuoka-kun." Kuroo said it simply, having only just walked in and being pushed past by an upset Lev. "I know you're not used to being a none-regular, but if it really bothers you that much, maybe you should just work harder."

"Work harder? Me? Work harder?!" He let out a breathless laugh and threw his arms apart, letting the pillow fall with a gentle thud to the ground. "Who's the only one here who managed to keep up with Hinata the first time? Me! Who is always put on marking duty for the faster players? Me! All I ever do is deal with the people you can't handle! Sure, you can deal with Shibi-chan at the moment, but how about when that quick works again? What then?"

The team went silent. Kuroo cocked his head to the side. "Inuoka. I knew you'd get overwhelmed being off-court eventually, but what you said to Lev was out of order, and you need to apologize. You have an illness, and I get it, I really do. But didn't you ever think Lev could help you, too?" The captain sighed a little and shook his head, pushing the middle blocker out of the door. "And stop by Shrimpy's on your way back. You'd be surprised."

* * *

Sou walked around for a while, calling out for Lev. "Where did you go, Lyovochka?" He'd picked up the nickname from the boy's sister, but he was mainly using it to calm himself down, the guilt of what he said finally getting to him.

He sighed and started to make his way back towards their dorm, stopping as he heard sniffling by the toilets, the ones just next to Karasuno's dorm. He creeped in, recognizing the hiccups as his teammate's voice. "Lev?" Inuoka called out, and he heared an obvious start in one of the stalls, before the long legs peeking out of the bottom were pulled up. "G-go away."

"I'm sorry for saying-"  
"You really think I'd be that bothered? Look, it upset me, but something else was worse, so please, just go away, Inuoka-san. It's okay. Don't worry about it." Inuoka paused, and then knocked on the stall door gently. "Well, what was worse? I can help, Lev."

"You can help, my ass." The Half-Russian muttered, but he opened the stall anyway, greeting a concerned boy with red eyes, a runny nose and a miserable expression. Inuoka spoke gently, so as to not provoke the self-proclaimed ace of their team. "Do you wanna talk about it, Lev?"

The boy paused, and then slid down, blocking the door to the toilets with his body, and Sou slid down next to him. Lev looked up at the partially grubby ceiling with a bit lip. "It's Shoyo." Inuoka's eyes widened. How could the little ball of sunshine be a cause of this? "Not on purpose, he didn't do anything, it's just..."

Lev sighed and rubbed his arms, blinking away tears that were forming at the sides of his eyes. "I love him, dammit. I'm an idiot. I'm a huge, stupid idiot." He looked over at Inuoka, who had his head cocked to the side, completely unaware of Lev's feelings. So that's why he was hanging around the ginger decoy so much..."Well, have you asked him out?"

"I don't need to. He's in love with that stupid setter." Haiba muttered bitterly, running his hands over his face and sighing, before pulling his knees back to his chest. That, Sou knew; it wasn't like the two were exactly discreet. They were probably making out in the baths or something half of the time. "Well, you're not gonna get anywhere if you don't tell Shoyo how you feel, buddy. I know that more than anyone. Not that I feel the same way you do!" He rushed to correct himself, but let out a half-sigh half-laugh, shaking his head, wondering why he cared so much. "But I have dependency problems, and it was hard to tell anyone, really. Like, you, right now. I've been avoiding telling you for a while. Now just seemed like the right time, but it's still scary."

"So that's why you cared so much about me hanging out with Hinata?" Lev asked. Inuoka laughed a little at himself more than the fellow first-year, but nodded nonetheless. "Yeah, that's pretty much it. But now I think about it," He paused and stood, leaving a hand out to help the regular middle blocker up with a halfhearted grin. "I think we both just need to tell him how we feel. Maybe we're both idiots."

He looked down at the taller boy, who sighed. Sou shook his head and smiled more fully. "Lev, come back to the dorms. If they don't think we've made up they'll ban me from food. Plus, we both need some sleep." Lev looked up, and then balled his hands into fists on top of his knees, avoiding eye contact on purpose. The other was confused until he let out a quiet stutter. "Y-you're sure you don't care about me being a regular?"

The question caught Inuoka off-guard; For a second he'd forgotten why both of them were even there at 11PM. He let out a teasing laugh. "Well, don't expect me to be bench-warming forever, Lyovochka!" Lev smiled, taking the other's hand and pulling himself up as the boy continued. "Nah but seriously, it doesn't bother me. You worked hard. All I care about is you not trailing mud all over our reputation. Sorry for being so..." He hesitated, looking for the right word, but Lev filled it in for him. "Salty?" Sou laughed as they opened the door, walking out without looking where they were going, and bumping right into Hinata himself.

"Speak of the devil..." Lev whispered, and Inuoka giggled. Hinata's hair was sticking up in weirder directions than usual, and he looked pretty much half-dead. He yawned. "I dunno what yall're doin' down here, b-b-" He let out another yawn. "But I need to piss, so move." The two did, grinning at the tired boy as he walked past, and then giggling to each other. "Salty's probably the right word."

* * *

The next day, at the cafeteria, Lev was eating as much as usual, chatting happily with Kenma. Inuoka knew that he wasn't ready to talk to Shoyo yet, and he respected that. But there was someone who'd been holding off talking to the happy-go-lucky boy, too long for anybody's own good. Sou walked over to the Karasuno table, where said boy was stuffing his face, but stopped at sign of his approach.

Inuoka took a deep breath as he came to a stop beside Hinata, and bit his lip.

"Shoyo, can I talk to you?"

* * *

 **AN: Hey, Oh, let's go. Thanks for reading!  
-AP  
**


	18. The Shy Setter - Part One : Nekoma Pt 6

**AN: Everybody wanted the Kenma chapter at heart...or at least I did. So here it is! I was gonna use the title Silent Setter, but there's already a story on fanfic under that name. It's pretty good btw, check it out! But anyways, heck, I've already said most of the trigger warnings and I think we've established most of you guys don't need them so let's just jump right in. This is a direct continuation from the Listening Libero. Also, I listened to Bleeding Out by Imagine Dragons when writing this. Trigger Warning for homophobic language and emotional abuse. Enjoy!  
-AP**

* * *

 _The Shy Setter_

Kenma felt his face pale.

 _MSG FROM: Shoyo!_  
 _SENT: 5:46PM_

 _Oi, it's Daichi. Call us. Like right now. It's important._

He would've considered it just the captain of Karasuno being annoying if it had been any day, but the words at the end stopped him. It's important. Daichi, like Kuroo, never said something was important to him unless it was overwhelming him. Immediately, Kenma was greeted by his mind with a thousand questions. Why did Daichi have Shoyo's phone? Why wasn't Shoyo texting him? Why not after practice?

"C-call him, Kenma." Kuroo spoke raspily, as if he'd dried up from the obvious desperation in the text. The room was quiet as Kenma dialed the all-too-familiar number with a grim expression, and pressed the smartphone to his ear.

"KENMA! Thank God." He was even more surprised to find Lev on the phone, even though he knew for a fact the boy was currently in Miyagi. For what reason, he had no idea. "K-Kenma, t-there's a problem. A huge problem. Daichi went to get help."

"What? What do you mean? Slow down!" Kenma panicked at the sound of hyperventilating on the other side. He could hear the desperation that he'd never heard in Lev's voice before. It terrified him. Lev continued. "Uh, it's Hinata. He's...He's...on a bridge. I don't know why. He won't listen to me I think he's gonna...do something. T-talk to him. K-Kenma, please, please, get him down, please, I-I..."

"Okay, okay, Lev, calm down. Tell Shoyo I want to talk to him." Kenma said it as calmly as he could muster, but his expression was one that horrified all of his teammates. It was one of inexplicable, upset fear. Plain fear. He heard Lev gently soothing on the other side of the line, before a panting voice greeted him.

"Kenma. Call your lion off. It's m-my life." His voice was hardened; He didn't sound like Hinata at all. Kenma flinched at the harshness in the voice of what had become of his best friend. "I can't control him, Shoyo. What are you doing?" He could hear the decoy's voice shake as he breathed, and the boy let out a bitter, dry laugh. "I-I think, I-I'm, uh, jumping off a bridge. I think."

He sounded dangerously sure. Kuroo took the phone off of Kenma. "Hey, Shibi-chan, I thought we had a deal?" There was a sharp intake of breath. Then a silence. Yelling in the background, sirens. A sudden strangled sob.

"The deal's off."

The phone was thrown onto the ground, the contact hurting Kuroo's ears, and he held the phone back just in time to hear Lev let out a scream and sounds of running, until the line very suddenly went dead. Coach Nekomata walked in late, as usual. "What's with the long faces?"

"I apologize, Coach, but we have to go to Miyagi."

* * *

Three weeks after Shoyo had gotten out of the hospital. Three weeks since his dad had been arrested. Five weeks since he ran away. Five weeks since he ran into Lev by accident. Four weeks since he'd thrown himself off of a bridge.

"Kenma, I have a question." The gamer looked up. He hadn't left Miyagi since the incident, and had been staying at Shoyo's mother's house with the ball of sunshine. He made a vague sound that indicated for the younger boy to continue. "You aren't gonna like it."

This caused his head to snap up. Hinata was fiddling with the hem of his shirt and avoiding eye contact, biting his lip. The bruises on his face were faded enough to look like sleep bags. When they were more prominent, the boy had refused blatantly to leave the house.

"I wanna go visit my dad."

"Why the hell would you want to do that?!" Kenma was surprised about how much hostility made it through into his voice. Shoyo sighed. "Look, I gotta decide whether to press charges, s-so...That'd mean a court case. To see if he should go to jail. Instead of prison. And I just need to see if he's getting better, first."

Kozume was shocked when he heard his own voice agree, reluctantly. Hinata smiled, rattled off the address and visiting times, and asked if his friend could meet him there after school. Kenma nodded as his best friend charged off with a quick goodbye, before shooting down the road like a bullet. He sighed; Another reason why he couldn't be on a team with Shoyo. He was fast. One minute he was in front of you, one minute he was a town over.

The gamer stood and walked out of the room, seeing the decoy's mother leaning against the side. "Natsu doesn't have kindergarten today, so I'm letting her sleep in." The woman paused and looked at Kenma with clear concern. The setter cocked his head to the side. "Is something wrong, Hinata-san?" She smiled at his politeness. "Please, call me Nariko."

Thunder child. Kozume couldn't help but let a small smile overtake his features. The name fit not only the woman, but the family she was a part of. "Is something wrong, Nariko?" He said it quietly as he slipped into a seat at the table and dropped his smartphone back into his pocket, knowing Kuroo would text him back when he had the chance. The woman smiled sunnily. "Nothing much! Just..."

She looked at the door her son had just zoomed out of almost sadly. "He's...different. I don't suppose you noticed?" Kenma nodded almost immediately. Hinata had acted on the front like his normal, happy-go-lucky self, but occasionally he was prone to sudden snaps that were extremely unlike him, mutters of self-hatred when he did something wrong, starts at loud noises. Kozume paused, thinking back to Kuroo.

 _"So that's why you were different?" The first year had said, eyes wide. Kuroo nodded hesitantly, and then let out an awkward laugh, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "I'm gonna continue being different, actually. I can't be like I was before. It's so much different now." He'd gotten quieter as he continued the sentence, but Kenma nodded nonetheless._

 _Kuroo looked up, bitten lip, obviously nervous. "They, uh, they think I might have a form of PTSD. From Souj-" He stopped and shook his head as the first name came out by instinct. "From Hinoshinji."_

"Maybe he has PTSD." Kenma suggested it off-handedly, but the mother winced a little, and suddenly turned, washing dishes as if they were what had hurt her child, with vigor. She sighed, and pressed her lips together so that they almost disappeared. "I hate to admit that you're right." She stopped, putting the plate on a drying rack beside her. "Not because of him having it, of course."

She took a deep, shuddering breath. "I hate to admit it because I could've prevented it." The woman said it more to herself than the teenage boy sitting at her table, but he answered anyway. "I think..." He trailed off a little, trying to find the right words so not to upset the woman or himself. "I think we all think we could've prevented it. Sure, you're his Mom, but think about it."

He stood, suddenly angry with himself, and beginning to pace in the room as he considered his own words. "I'm one of his best friends; We're on first-name basis, so why the hell didn't I notice?! And Lev even admitted seeing but not asking! Kuroo and Bokuto saw, sure, but Shoyo made them promise to keep it quiet. Daichi and Suga feel that they should've kept him safe, Asahi believes if he let Hinata stay over that night it wouldn't have happened, his senpais in second year are beating themselves up enough, Tsukishima and Yamaguchi don't even know how to respond and they hate themselves for it and-"

He stopped. "Kageyama. Jesus Christ, Kageyama. He's been avoiding all of us. We don't know why." The woman looked shocked, but nodded. He hadn't been there since Hinata had first gone missing. "He's gotta be hurting more than anything right now. I mean...If I...when...when it was Kuroo, I didn't even know...I couldn't look at him, it just hurt. I hope he doesn't accidentally hurt Shoyo."

"Tobio's a nice kid." Hinata-san said it almost dreamily. "But he's been avoiding Shoyo. You can tell. He always rides alone now. Never stopping to wait for anyone. Tobio doesn't walk with him anymore." Kenma nodded. He'd noticed that Shoyo had seemed sadder when he got home, and the fact that Tobio had stopped walking with him explained that.

"He wants to go see his father later." Kenma just spat it out, with a hint of passive aggressiveness. The woman froze and then sighed. "I knew he'd want to eventually. J-Just...Stay with him, Kenma-chan. Promise me you'll make sure that man doesn't hurt my baby." She whimpered it, and Kozume nodded vigorously, not knowing how to comfort the woman. "Of course. I'll take care of Shoyo. You can go to work, I'll take care of the house, I'll have dinner for you when you get back."

"You don't have to do that, Kenma-chan." Hinata-san said it gently as she slipped her coat on, but the gamer just smiled, fuller this time. "I do. I'll keep Nat-chan have a nice day, you deserve it." She smiled as she left, looking back reluctantly one last time before gently shutting the door.

Kenma sighed as he heard Natsu stir upstairs. It was gonna be a long day.

* * *

"Alright Natsu, I've gotta go with Sho-chan now, okay? You be good for your mom!" Kozume had been surprised to see the kid was interested in video games, so they'd gotten on quite well. He stood, seeing Shoyo with an expression that basically screamed "awww". He made an unimpressed face as the two left.

They walked down the street towards the Men's Prison in silence. When they were around the corner, Kenma turned, seeing that his friend was trembling slightly. "Are you sure about this, Shoyo?" He basically whispered it, but the boy jumped nonetheless. He paused.

"I don't know. I really don't. But...I've got to see something." Hinata didn't continue, so the setter didn't ask. They continued walking, and eventually headed into the doors of the prison. A woman with a sunny smile welcomed them, asking them the name of the man they wanted to visit.

Shoyo took a deep breath. "Tomikiro Hiroko, please." He stated it mechanically despite the woman's warm smile. She nodded, and then after a couple minutes, said they could wait in the visiting room, and that guards would bring him out.

They went into the room. Kenma let his friend sit on the chair and stood next to it. They were near a window. The room was full of tables, a cacophony of people talking about their lives, the 'how are you's and the 'what's life like's were enough to make the setter's breath catch in his throat. He pushed his anxiety down. _This is for Shoyo. Not me._

The monster was brought in. He looked different. Kenma guessed, anyway. The man's expression was gentle, his blue eyes soft as he was sat down. There was a silence. Kozume saw his friend sit up suddenly and lick his lips.

Eventually, Shoyo's father broke the silence. "Hello, Sho-chan." It was quiet and...was that shame Kenma detected in the man's voice? Hinata saw it too, and his shoulders loosened only slightly. "Hey, dad. I..."

The decoy took another deep, shuddering breath. "I'm sorry. For putting you in here. I never meant..." He trailed off, and the adult's smile faltered slightly. He looked down. "Look, Shoyo, I get it, I really do. I stepped over a line. I stepped over way too many lines. I don't know why it took me so long to realize." He sighed a little. "But is this really the way to deal with it?"

Kenma was onto him from the second he sighed. He didn't interfere though; Not yet. Shoyo tensed again, but didn't respond. The man looked up at him. "Come on, Sho. I miss you. I miss you coming home all excited when you've won, and talking about all the 'gwaah!' and 'swish!' and 'sfzoom!'." He stopped, and Kozume knew now what he was trying to do. This man felt no remorse at all; he was just manipulating his son.

He sighed. "Have I ever told you that you have your mother's eyes, Shoyo?" The boy suddenly froze. Wait, what? Why was that making him scared? Nekoma's setter found himself confused. "Y-yes, F-Father."

"Have I ever told you how your little friend here doesn't give a shit about anything but him and his messy-haired faggot boyfriend?" Kenma tensed, and looked over to the guards, who weren't paying attention. He placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, sending an icy glare at the man. Shoyo just repeated the answer, though.

"Yes, Father."

"Have I ever told you how worthless you are, Shoyo?"

"Yes, Father."

It was as if the boy had suddenly turned into a robot. No, a puppet. Moving however this man wanted, saying whatever this man wanted. It made Kozume sick to his stomach, but he found himself paralyzed as the man continued in his reign of terror. "You deserved it, Shoyo. You made me like this. You put me here. You disgust me. If you tell them anything, faggot, when I get out of here, I'll kill you and all your little fucking friends, but I'll make sure to have some fun with them first."

"I k-know, Father. I'll b-be g-good. I-I won't...t-tell them..." His breathing suddenly became labored, and he sprinted out of the door with a strangled yell, leaving the rest of the visitors in the room staring at the table. The prisoners sent Kiro a confused look, but he just laughed. "Kids, huh?"

* * *

Kenma was walking out when someone grabbed him. He looked, and saw a Latino he'd seen in the visiting room earlier. "Yo, kid. Kiro, what'd he do to his kid? Seriously? If he needs dealing with...me and my homies got your back." Kozume smiled dryly.

This was his chance.

As soon as he finished, the Latino man turned away, storming off. He looked back. "Name's Paulio, by the way. I don't have a price. I just wanna help some kids. Thanks for explaining." Then, he disappeared down the hall, and Kenma turned, hoping to track down his best friend before a repeat of four weeks ago.

* * *

 **AN: This has a lot of time skipping, forgive me. I dunno how I'm gonna continue this, but I'll do it somehow. Anyways. Poor Shooooooyooooo...I hate his dad. Review if you liked, and thanks for reading!  
-AP **


	19. The Shy Setter-Part Two: Nekoma Part 7

**AN: Why do most of the official setters have two parts? Weird. Anyways, same warnings as part one, also featuring sexual and physical abuse implications, and self harm. Enjoy!  
-AP**

* * *

 _The Shy Setter Part Two_

When Kenma found his friend, he wished he had sooner. The boy had collapsed in an alleyway, and was in the midst of an intense panic attack, mumbling to himself in between sounds that could barely count as breaths. Mumbling the insults that his father had forced into his innocent mind.

Kenma had never been this mad before. He'd never been this upset before. He'd never stood, above his broken friend, fists shaking, expression livid. He'd never, ever wanted to kill someone as much as he wanted to kill Tomikiro Hiroko.

Despite his growing anger, he let it ooze away until he needed it, and crouched down. He didn't do anything, because he didn't know what to do. He gently placed a hand on Shoyo's head, and was surprised to feel his shaking slow. He began twisting hair around his finger, and then stroking it. Eventually, Hinata was calm, clinging desperately to the jacket of his friend.

It had become dark.

"Shoyo. We have to move. Can you get up?" The setter said gently. The boy didn't respond, until he turned and suddenly ripped away from the boy, before throwing up on the dirt floor. "JESUS CHRIST!" Kenma shouted, standing and jumping back. "Shoyo, are you okay?!"

The decoy groaned, pulling himself up to his feet, but swaying dangerously. Kenma quickly came up on his right side and put his arm behind his friend's back, supporting him, holding the ginger's limp hand in his right one, his left clinging to Shoyo's side to keep him upright.

They finally made it home, and Nariko helped the second-year get her son to his bedroom, where the boy immediately flopped onto his bed, and was out in a second. As soon as he was asleep, his mother got a baby wipe and wiped the vomit that had dribbled from his mouth away.

"What happened to him?" She said gently, stroking her son's hair. (So that was why it calmed him down...) Kenma sighed. "Your ex-husband is an asshole. A manipulative, stupid, annoying asshole." She let out a bitter laugh. "I divorced him for a reason."

"I mean," Kozume paused for a second. "I knew he was gonna be an asshole. But I didn't know he was gonna be that much of an asshole. Kuroo warned me, though." He added the last bit to justify it to himself. Nariko bit her lip. "Yeah, well, he was the one who..." As she trailed off, Shoyo turned over, exposing the deep scars on his back as his T-shirt rode up.

A shudder forced it's way through Kenma when he saw it. The scar was deep, with the center still pinky-red, spelling out that awful word. The setter couldn't help but be disturbed; The fact anybody would go that far, just because of an opinion, was scary. Scratch that, it was terrifying.

He wondered how the hell Kuroo had dealt so calmly with seeing it fresh. He knew Bokuto had been torn apart by seeing it; The boy had ran past a concerned Akaashi to his dorm and not come out until lunch the next day, because Kuroo was forced to go get him. Even now, the owl-like boy was bothered by it; Even at the last training camp, when Shoyo's shirt had ridden up slightly as he dug the ball, and it had flown over the net, the ace froze completely in an anxiety attack. He had to stop playing. His reaction was hurting Shoyo a lot.

A lot of people seemed to be accidentally hurting the ray of sunshine lately. It was probably because they had no idea how to help; That was fair enough, but avoiding Hinata because you didn't know how to help wasn't the resolution to that problem. Lev was proof of that.

Lev. If Bokuto was torn apart, Lev was completely shattered, broken into a million pieces. He had to be taken to see an emergency therapist during one practice, according to Kuroo; He completely broke down in the middle of a spike. He'd been in the temporary psychiatric ward since. Kozume had decided not to tell Shoyo for the boy's state of mind, but he couldn't help but feel guilty.

Apparently, Lev wouldn't talk to anyone visiting, not even his own sister.

Kenma didn't know what the first-year had experienced emotionally on that bridge. He had no idea what anybody on the bridge experienced, but neither Lev nor Karasuno's captain had been the same since. Shoyo wasn't, either, but that was a given.

Kozume had been to Karasuno's practice via orders of his own captain, but only a handful of times, because their team was hard to keep up with, and he'd noticed the complete change in Sawamura Daichi. He seemed somewhat more jumpy, more nervous. He got panicked every time someone even vaguely blamed themselves for anything.

 _"Ah, sorry, that toss was too tight-!" Kenma was surprised to hear the saltier setter actually apologizing (He hadn't tossed to Shoyo, still.) but Karasuno's captain looked suddenly nervous. "No, no, it's fine, don't worry about it!"_

 _"AW DARN! Sorry, Dai-!"  
"No, Noya, it's okay, it's okay!"_

From what Kenma had seen, the captain was acting even softer and gentler than he usually was with his team. He didn't think it was a good thing, but to each their own.

He sighed as Shoyo's mother left, and slipped into the other half of the bed, drowning immediately in a peaceful sleep.

* * *

Kenma pried his eyes open when he felt a shift in the bed. Hinata was getting back in, and froze when he saw the setter's catlike eyes staring at him. Kozume saw the look on his face, and immediately flipped on the lamp next to the boy's bed, sitting up as if he'd never slept. His eyes burned, but he didn't care.

"Shoyo, why are you up?" He tried not to say it accusingly, but it came out as so anyway. The small boy sighed in defeat almost immediately, and held up his poorly-bandaged arm, blood seeping through obvious cuts on it. "I-I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault." Kenma whispered as the boy threw himself into the setter's chest, starting to sob as quietly as somebody this broken could. "I-I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. It's just...Kageyama hates me. Kageyama Tobio hates my guts, and he's the only stable partner I've ever had."

Kozume found the anger once again rising from his stomach as he whispered comfort to the bleeding, crying boy. As soon as he'd fallen back to sleep out of exhausted, he wrapped the boy's arm to better let it heal, and then slipped into a now restless sleep himself.

* * *

When Kenma explained what had happened to Nariko, she agreed it would be best to let Shoyo have the day off of school, despite the boy's protests. Kozume left the boy at about the time they would be leaving school and going into practice, saying he needed something from the store before the training camp in a couple days.

The setter marched with unstoppable anger into the Karasuno gym. "KAAAAAAAGEEEEEEEEEYAAAAAAAAAAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" He shouted, drawing it out, his voice uncharacteristically choked and harsh. The other setter flinched, taking an alarmed step back from Suga, who he had been talking to at the moment of the intrusion.

Kenma basically ran at the boy with death in his eyes, and Tobio seemed as terrified and stunned as the rest of the team. The smaller boy didn't let the height difference halt him and slammed the other into a wall so hard he slid, shocked, to the ground. Kozume grabbed him by the collar, until a pale hand appeared on his shoulder.

"KENMA, HE KNOWS!" Sugawara shouted, attempting to pull the boy back to no avail. Apparently, despite his scrawny figure, the Nekoma setter was surprisingly strong when he needed to be. Kenma stopped for a moment, releasing the boy and turning to the third-year. "No, he doesn't."

He glared down at Kageyama. "Last night, Shoyo came home alone. AGAIN." The first-year felt small in his presence, and flinched as his voice was raised. "And you know what happened, Kageyama, huh?! DO YOU?!" The Karasuno member shook his head hesitantly, his entire body shaking.

"When I woke up, at 3AM, he had blood dribbling down his arm, and I have never seen a boy look more broken in my life. And what did he say? He said that you hated him. Your own fucking boyfriend thinks you hate him." The entire team had froze by now, processing what the cat was saying, all deadly silent. Tobio was still shaking, and tears were collecting in the corners of his eyes. "And, here's the thing, kid, I've been there. And yeah, it's painful. It really fucking hurts that they got hurt that bad and you couldn't keep them safe. I get it."

Kenma took a deep breath and turned to the dismayed team. "But have any of you even considered how _I_ feel, cleaning up all of YOUR messes?! How his _mother_ feels, knowing the man she once loved destroyed her son?! HOW _HE_ FEELS?!" He glared accusingly at them all. "Of course you haven't. Because of you all, me, Nariko and Shoyo are feeling this the worse right now, so get off your asses and stop feeling sorry for yourselves, and help your goddamn teammate, because there are some messes I can't clean up."

With that, the setter turned and marched out, strangely satisfied with himself.

* * *

 **AN: WHOO! I might have a third part, depending on what you reviewers say. Anyways, thanks for reading, and review if you liked!  
-AP**


	20. The Shy Setter-Part Three: Nekoma Part 8

**AN: Okay, so, sorry, I'm thinking about extending The Shy Setter to about four parts for purpose of finishing this specific clump of plot (Hinata being abused and healing.) and then moving on to different parts of the plot for the end of Nekoma and beginning of Aoba Johsai which is the team I'm doing next. So, yeah, apologies if you don't like this specific bit, but as soon as it's over we can move on to other characters. Warnings are the same as the last two parts. Enjoy!  
-AP**

* * *

"Oikawa-san." The sound of the low voice made the third-year turn in surprise. He had a feeling he'd be encountering Karasuno, and Tobio had already asked him for advice with tossing for the shrimp-What could he possibly want? In truth, Oikawa needn't ask; He'd seen the papers. The shrimp had troubles, and no doubt, Kageyama had no idea how to deal with them, or help with them.

"What do you want, Tobio?" The setter sneered as his cousin skipped into practice. He could see that the first-year wasn't up for banter or competition of any kind right now though; He looked vaguely broken. "I-I don't know w-who else t-to talk t-to...If you even want to t-talk to me, I mean."

"Tobio, cut out the self-depreciation crap, it makes me feel all weird and gooey and...empathetic. What do you need?" Kenma was waiting round the corner. He hated to admit he'd been tailing the other setter, but he was surprised to see him conversing with the captain of Aoba Johsai. They hated each other...right? Kageyama was clearly shaking and bit his lip. "I don't know what to do. I just...I don't..."

"...C'mere, kid." Oikawa sighed, leading his junior over to a bench and sitting him down. "Start from the beginning. And you don't have to stutter around me. You're not my competition right now." Kenma was vaguely shocked. He'd met Oikawa Tooru a handful of times, and never considered the man to be a caring senpai, especially to a boy who was now his opposition.

When Kageyama had finished, Tooru paused for a moment. "I'm going to be honest, Tobio, I've never quite had such an intense situation as this in my team." The younger setter looked disappointed. "But!" Oikawa picked him up again quickly before continuing. "The best thing to do is just to talk to Shibi-chan about it. Seriously."

Kageyama looked at the floor again, obviously having heard the words before, but not wanting to believe them. Kenma cocked his head to the side. Surely it wasn't that hard on Karasuno's setter? Oikawa sighed. "Look, if I was in a situation where Iwa-chan had something that bad happen to him, so bad he tried to end his life, I'll be honest, I wouldn't know what to do either. He's my everything, like Hinata is yours. I can't imagine how it hurts, but..." The setter shook his head and stood as a bell rung, signifying the end of the children's volleyball club. "If you don't talk to him, your relationship is gonna collapse. Oh and," He pasted on a shit-eating grin as he walked off. "I'll see you at the spring tournament, Tobio."

* * *

When Kenma got home, Hinata was sitting on the floor, staring into space. He looked up as the setter entered. "Oh. So you are coming back. Makes a change." It was dull, unlike Shoyo, and Kozume sighed, ruffling the boy's orange hair before pulling him up. "You might wanna get out of your slump before-!"

A loud knock echoed, and Kenma rushed to answer the door.

The entire Karasuno team was on the Hinatas' doorstep.

"Um, can I please get through?" A voice shouted from the front of the garden, and the team parted like the Red Sea, all apologizing in such perfect unison it was creepy. Nariko Hinata whipped her way inside before saying a quick 'one second' and slamming the door. "Can I ask why 12 teenagers are in my garden AGAIN?!" Shoyo flinched. Kenma bit his lip. "It's actually my fault."

Both the Hinatas cocked their heads to the side, looking so like each other it was uncanny. Kenma chuckled under his breath before continuing. "You see, I told Shoyo I was going to the store but really I...kind of went and told Karasuno off for not visiting or anything." Nariko sighed and ruffled Kozume's hair (something his parents had never done) and let a fond smile slip onto her face. "You're so good for our Shoyo, Kenma. Alright," She opened the door and both the boys immediately retreated into the living room. "Come on in!"

The first impression of what Kenma had done was that Hinata was happy. As his captain and vice-captain rushed in and basically crushed him, he was smiling wider than the setter had ever seen him smile since his dad lost his job. Daichi was whispering apologies, and Sugawara was just clinging to the boy, as if he'd disappear if he let him go. "Oi, Mom and Dad 2, you're crushing him!" Tanaka shouted out, but there was less tease in his voice than usual.

Daichi and Suga let go reluctantly, as if they were babies told to give up their favorite teddy bear. Shoyo was giggling as Koushi ruffled his hair. "Sorry for not being here. And I don't mean here as in, here! I mean..." Sugawara paused, and Daichi was the one who decided to finish the sentence, since the gray-haired setter couldn't seem to think of the right words. "He means we're sorry for not supporting you as much as we could have. We were all so focused on how the situation hurt all of us that...we didn't even consider how you must be feeling."

Both of the eldest looked like they were about to bow until Hinata reached up and stopped them. "No, no! You're my senpai! Your apologies are accepted, you don't need to bow to me!" They leaned back up and Shoyo looked relieved as they rubbed the back of their heads sheepishly.

All of the team greeted the decoy in their individual ways. When Asahi stepped forward and proceeded to ruffle the boy's hair, Nishinoya was stood, hiding behind the third-year, shaking. "Gomen, Hinata! You know I'd never leave you alone if it weren't for..." He trailed off, sending a glance to the quivering boy gripping to the back of his shirt like it was a lifeline.

"I'm sorry, Nishinoya-senpai." The words made everybody in the room look up, even Kenma, who was now absorbed in his video game, and proud of his own work. There was a loud, painful intake of breath, before a choked sob, and then Noya was clinging to Shoyo like he was going to drop dead.

"You did nothing wrong, you did nothing wrong, Shoyo, Jesus fucking Christ, I'm sorry." The uncharacteristic sobs made any chance of vague chatter be eliminated from the room, and all of Karasuno's members flinched. Kenma didn't know much about Nishinoya Yuu in terms of his attitude outside of games, but he did know that the boy's cries were probably one of the most painful things he'd ever heard.

They were dry, loud, raw and sore, like someone had cut him open wide, but at the same time they were wet, quiet, gentle and muffled, like he didn't want anybody to hear. Such a strange, heartbreaking cacophony that shook the room and the attitudes of those within it, and made Kozume himself feel chilled down to the bone.

The only one who didn't seem pained was Karasuno's ace, who had a gentle, sad smile on his face. Nishinoya eventually pulled back, and threw himself at Azumane, who caught him immediately, rubbing comforting circles in the libero's back and whispering something that told everybody how hard it had been to tell Hinata how he felt.

"Well done, Noya. Well done."

His sobs drowned out eventually, and it wasn't long before he collapsed and started snoring. The team giggled as Asahi scooped the boy up with a fond sigh. "I'll just, go put him on your bed for a while, if you don't mind, Hinata." The ginger boy shook his head as the ace disappeared upstairs with a snoring libero who'd cried himself to exhaustion within 10 minutes. Even to someone like Kenma, that was impressive.

Tsukishima surprised most of them. He actually reached out his hand, and it took Shoyo a moment to realize the blond wanted him to shake it. The smaller boy reached his hand out to the other's cautiously, as if it was a trap, but shook his fellow first-year's hand firmly. "Look, I'm not good with words, uh, but..." The middle blocker paused. "You're strong, even if you're an idiot. Emotionally. I honestly couldn't get through what you have. So don't let it give you a big head or anything, but, yeah, you're a strong person."

For some reason, that made the other middle blocker beam more than anything. Kenma seriously swore that if the boy smiled any wider, it'd be so bright it would blind him. He understood to an extent, though; When he complimented Lev for the first time, the boy looked happier than he had when Yaku or even Kuroo had. He supposed it was a communication or lack thereof, thing.

Yamaguchi grinned and hugged the boy shortly, before pulling back. "I know we aren't really good friends or anything, so I can't say I feel as bad as people here. I would've come, but I actually didn't know where you lived until now. But, listen, I'm good with anxiety so, uh, if you ever need someone to talk to, even if it's three in the morning, you know how to get to me." Hinata nodded, grinning sunnily at the pinch-server.

Tanaka was weird, but loud as usual. He ran up and noogie'd Shoyo, messing up his hair even more than usual, with a wide smile. "I'm sorry. Like actually. But! I plan to make up all the time I missed in practice!" Hinata giggled, pushing the second-year playfully away.

Chikara hugged the boy with vigor, and ruffled his hair. (Kenma was getting seriously pissed that they were all ruffling his hair. He had to tidy that! It's not like Shoyo would do it himself.) He told him he was there whenever needed, and also told the boy his phone number and email in case it was less urgent.

Kinoshita and Narita were more awkward, but they were both affectionate enough to make the orange-haired ball of sunshine keep giggling, and push them away like they were overbearing parents. He smiled. "Thanks, guys, really, but..." Kenma had already noticed his eyes scanning the room, looking for stormy eyes and pitch-black hair.

"Where's Kageyama?"

* * *

 **AN: Where IS Kageyama anyway? Where'd he go from Oikawa's? Like seriously, I don't know yet. Anyways, thanks for reading, and remember to review if you liked it!  
-AP**


	21. The Shy Setter-Part Four: Nekoma Part 9

**AN: The final part of the Shy Setter is upon us! Sorry for extending this plotline for so long, I know some didn't enjoy it. Anyways, I don't have much to say about this one, just to enjoy.  
-AP**

* * *

Suga and Daichi looked at each other, and smiles faded, and the room went silent.

Shoyo's expression dropped as well, and his eyes faded back into the dull colour they had been before, without the spark Kenma swore he nearly just brought back. "How did I know?" The decoy was trying to sound cynical, but his voice cracked at the end, and he pulled his knees up to his chest. The entire team was avoiding eye contact with the boy, who had bitten his lip to stop unshed tears from falling.

"Hinata, you know it isn't like that. He loves you to pieces." Sugawara comforted, saying it gently and quietly so as not to provoke the boy. His precautions went unheard, and the middle blocker suddenly stood, face dark, and when he looked up, there was a fire in his eyes none of them had seen before, not even with Kageyama. "IF HE LOVED ME, HE'D BE HERE!" Suddenly, he shoved his elder so hard that the setter fell backwards, tripping over the table and banging his head on the side of it.

There was another silence, but this time, Shoyo was staring at his hands, shaking, and looking back and forth between them and the now-groaning Suga, who Daichi had kneeled next to. "Suga, are you okay?" The captain whispered, and the grey-haired setter sat up, rubbing his head with one hand and smiling, but it was smaller than before. "I'm fine, Daichi, it was just-!" Hinata suddenly darted out of the room and ran upstairs, slamming the door behind him, obviously forgetting about the fact that their team's libero was snoring in his bed.

"A bump." Koushi finished quietly. "I guess I hit a nerve." He said it more to himself than his others as he took Daichi's arm and pulled himself back to his feet, looking suddenly serious. Kenma frowned at the floor, and then bit his lip. "No. He knows that Kageyama loves him, I think..." He paused for a second, and then looked up, where he could hear sobs. "I think he really just needs him more than any of you right now, but he's not here. None of you could fix that." Sawamura cocked his head to the side and Kenma help his arms up in surrender, hoping he didn't offend the senior.

"It shows how much attention we've really been paying when you know our ultimate decoy more than anyone else here." The captain said simply, and Kozume lowered his arms. "I just focus on what's going on with my friends, it's nothing..." The Nekoma member mumbled, rubbing his right arm with his left and avoiding eye contact; All the eyes of Karasuno on him right now was actually making him pretty uncomfortable.

"Thank you, Kenma-kun." Sugawara said something extremely easy to understand, and yet, Kenma found himself looking up in shock at the boy, with wide eyes. The other setter's smile was sunny as per usual. "You may have saved our kouhai from himself, and for that, I'm thankful." Before the younger boy could stop him, the vice captain was bowing, and Kozume jumped back, not knowing how to react...Especially when the rest of Karasuno followed suit. "THANK YOU, KENMA-KUN."

The setter froze like a deer in headlights. "Yeah, yeah, it's nothing, stop bowing, please, I didn't do that much and most of you are older or superior to me and you could've done much more anyway-!" He stopped at the amused look Karasuno's captain gave him, and bit his lip with a small smile. "You're welcome." They all stood up straight once again when there was a loud, overaggressive knock at the door.

* * *

"Tobio-kun, it's been a while!" Nariko said kindly, and the boy nodded to her, but looked behind her, and she let him in, knowing his first action would be to run upstairs to the source of her son's crying. Kenma went out into the hall just in time to see Kageyama disappear upstairs, and followed him, telling the rest of Karasuno to stay downstairs while he deviated and made sure nothing made Shoyo feel too awful.

He thought and assumed that the first-year setter was going to yell at his boyfriend.

You can imagine Kenma's surprise when he walked in on the tall boy clinging to Hinata, sobbing completely uncontrollably, as Noya awkwardly yawned on the bed, trying not to disrupt. "I'm sorry, baby, shit, I'm so fucking sorry..." Shoyo seemed completely overwhelmed, patting the boy's back nervously, when the setter sat up and pulled the other's lips to his. Kozume and Nishinoya shared that oh-so-familiar 'Third-Wheeling' look, but after about five minutes of little, wet gasps, they both blushed and realized that the boys probably weren't planning to stop any time soon.

They went downstairs, Noya still yawning and rubbing his eyes as the team asked what had happened. Kenma explained, and said he assumed they'd made up, whilst Yuu kept nagging that he wanted to go back to sleep, but couldn't, because Shoyo and Tobio were probably doing it. That was a joke, of course; Even if they were old enough, Hinata wouldn't be doing anything remotely sexual until he got over what happened with his dad, or at least learned to cope well with it.

After a while, Kageyama and Shoyo came back down, and the setter wouldn't stop clinging to the boy. Even when the decoy sat down, Tobio leaned against the chair and rested his head on top of his boyfriend's. Kenma smiled to himself and picked up his phone, seeing a text from Kuroo asking how everything was. Looking at the small spiker, giggling, eyes sparkling, smile wider than ever, he looked back down to his smart phone and began to text back.

 _Actually, Kuroo, I think things are better than they ever have been._

* * *

 **AN: WOO! SHY SETTER IS DONE! ONTO THE REST OF NEKOMA! YAY! WOOOOOO!  
-AP  
**


	22. The Stumbling Substitute: Nekoma Part 10

**AN: Alright! Moving on to other stuff! Yay! We don't know much about Shibayama so I just kinda went a little wild with this. So warning for secret chronic illness...who am I... Thanks for reading, and enjoy!  
-AP**

* * *

 _The Stumbling Substitute_

"Oi, Shibiyama! Yaku's on their side so join us for a 5-on-4? It's uneven, and I know you're probably pretty tired." Kuroo yelled as Yuki was packing up, and the substitute libero turned in surprise. Usually, they had four-on-fours and completely ignored him unless it was official practice.

"Uh, my parents'll be fine with it, so sure." He went and joined Kuroo's side, which consisted of the captain, Kenma, Lev, Inuoka and Shibiyama himself. The other side was the rest of their team. There was a short argument about the team of five having Kenma, but Kuroo protested that they had not only the official libero but also the ace of their team. Lev huffed to himself, but they continued nonetheless.

The team had been out of sync for a while now. Yuki was happy they were all together at training camp again, but Lev was still overwhelmingly sensitive, and couldn't play against Karasuno's #10 at all. He wasn't surprised to see Lev and Kenma's attacks fail for the fiftieth time today, and Haiba clenched his fists as Shibiyama ran to save the falling ball. He managed to, and Kenma silently tossed to Kuroo, who scored an easy point.

Yuki landed the dive-receive wrong, scraping his knees and elbows against the ground, cursing himself for forgetting his pads, and face-planted, but was happy to hear the cheers of his teammates because of the scored point anyway. Kenma hadn't tried to escape extra practice either, which was weird for their setter. The substitute pushed himself into a crawling position with his hands, and then stood.

When he turned around with a grin and a 'good job!', the team gasped. "Uhh...guys?" He said confusedly, as Yaku laughed and came up behind him, slapping his back. "That's what I call a dedicated receive! Nice one, Shibiyama!"

"Y-your nose...i-it's bleeding!" Inuoka basically screeched, and then began rushing around to find the first aid kit. Yuki put a hand up to his face, and was surprised to find that his friend had been right. "Oops."

"Wear your goddamn pads next time, Shibiyama, Christ!" Kuroo scolded as Inuoka threw him the first-aid kit, and he forced the sub libero to sit before he patched up the grazes on his elbows, forearms, knees and shins. Luckily, it wasn't much other than a pretty intense floor burn. He also gave his teammate tissue for his nose.

Within about five minutes, it stopped bleeding, and Yuki had walked to the bathroom to clean his face. Despite the forming bruise on his forehead, hearing Yaku say 'nice receive' was something that made the boy beam. He threw cold water on his face and made his way back out.

"Sorry if I worried you guys." He said with a sheepish smile, before slipping his elbow and knee pads over the bandaging. Kuroo reluctantly, after a lot of persuasion, said the boy could still play, providing he was careful not to injure himself further.

* * *

"Are you sure you're okay, Shibiyama-kun?" Inuoka asked for the third time as they walked back to their team's dormitory together. Yuki smiled and nodded. "I'm pretty clumsy, so falls like this are pretty normal for me." He explained as they got into the room, quieting for a moment until they realized their very loud teammates were obviously still awake. He sat on his futon and Sou followed, flopping to the floor.

"You never seem like the clumsy type." Tora pointed out, having been listening to their conversation. The substitute libero shrugged. "I manage myself well." Truth be told, he was scared. When he messed up a dive-receive, or any receive for that matter, it usually meant he was relapsing. Again.

Having relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis was not only a mouthful to say and explain, but an ever-so-present pain in the ass. He never told the Nekoma team, based entirely on his last team's reaction to his illness. The only person who knew was the coach.

So when things got foggy or he was too fatigued or, God forbid, he had a small period of paralysis, otherwise known as psuedoparalysis, he got pissed. And now, he was getting pissed. Because his legs decided to give him a huge screw you in the middle of a game.

Relapsing was annoying, and he was told by the doctor that he'd developed Primary Progressive MS too, which meant during his periods of relapse, which usually lasted months, he'd get progressively worse, and every relapse after that would be as bad as the end of the last one.

So now, he was scared. A moment of psuedoparalysis at the BEGINNING of a relapse was something that never happened before.

He didn't want to stop playing volleyball.

He didn't want to stop being able to move.

But he didn't have a choice.

His head was already pounding, screaming for him to sleep, even though it was only 9pm. He sighed, massaging the side of his stinging knee slightly as it began to ache. Tomorrow was gonna be a long day, but he had to finish tonight first.

"Are you sure you're okay? You look kinda...pained." Inuoka said, placing a concerned hand on the libero's shoulder. He shrugged it off, faking a confident smile. "Sorry! My head hurts a bit, that's all. Plus my knee is stinging like hell. Trust me to forget my pads..."

"Hey, actually, I meant to ask." Yaku jumped into their conversation. "Shibiyama, no matter how you look at it, that was an amazing save but...what happened to your legs?" The chatter in the room suddenly quieted as the substitute froze, stumbling over his words in attempt to form an excuse, but failing.

"W-what do you m-mean?" He settled for, knowing that Yaku already knew something was up, so there was no point denying it now. The official libero paused before he spoke. "You had really good form when running for the dive, but when you jumped, your legs just kinda...flopped. Like, they wouldn't move. I mean, in a game, I'd get the anxiety, but...?"

"I...I..." Shibiyama grasped around his mind desperately for an excuse, but found nothing. He sighed, shaking his head to himself. "Well, if not now then when?" He was saying it more to hype himself up and less to prepare his team. Despite his attempts, he felt the nausea of anxiety brewing in his stomach, and his heart picking up it's pace. He didn't want to do this, ever...But he knew he'd have to eventually.

There was a silence. The substitute libero felt his team's eyes on him, minus Lev, who'd not only found out by accident anyways and didn't care, but had to stay in Karasuno's dorm to prevent him from having another separation breakdown. Yuki took a deep breath. He wasn't prepared, but he had a feeling he never truly would be. "I have multiple sclerosis."

The silence was more crushing now. Mouths dropped open, faces contorted into something only describable as pain, and Kuroo turned around from his perch on the windowsill and calmly stated his question. "Which type? Relapsing or Primary?" Shibiyama rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and stared at the floor as if that'd save him from the stares of his teammates. "Both, actually."

Quiet was going to be the death of Yuki one day, he predicted. It was just too quiet. It couldn't be any more quiet, and that made it even more annoying. "A-at least y-you d-don't have cancer!" Inuoka piped up nervously, but Shibiyama bit his lip, and the middle blocker's eyes widened. "Right, Yuki?"

The boy didn't respond.

"Right?!" The other boy seemed almost desperate, and grabbed onto the libero's jacket as if he was going to slip away at any moment. Shibiyama sighed. "I have stage three Leukemia, actually." He basically whispered it. He didn't want to hear it. Not again. Not again.

* * *

 _"SERIOUSLY?! NO! GET OUT! I'M NOT HAVING OUR LIBERO COLLAPSE IN THE MIDDLE OF PLAY!" The captain shouted angrily, and Shibiyama flinched. "GO!" He winced again before scrambling away. Next time, he vowed, his team would never know. He'd rather die than not be on the court._

* * *

"Why didn't you tell us?" Everyone was surprised to hear Kenma be the first person to speak. He'd set his game down, and for once, seemed to actually care about what was happening around him. Yuki flinched and looked down. "M-my old team d-didn't react very well."

"We're not your old team, Shibiyama." Kuroo stated calmly. He didn't do anything dramatic, no hug or confrontation, just came over and ruffled the boy's hair, but that said what the others started saying after. He'd be there. They'd all be there.

"Any treatment, any appointment you don't wanna go to alone, we're here. I mean it. We want to know." Taketora said it as if he was the captain, though the captain himself had already done his bit. Shibiyama glanced to the side. "I-it's pretty...gross..."

"Nothing about you could be gross!" Inuoka shouted, before blushing and glancing to the side. "Sure, you're stumbling all over the place on your good days, but it's still beautiful! Everything's calculated, like the rest of our team. You're not any different just because you could die!"

The whole team let out a gasp.

Die.

Die.

Shibiyama Yuki could die.

Shibiyama Yuki WOULD die. They'd told him this before. He knew it. He knew that his body was wearing out, losing it's defenses, and he knew that soon enough he'd be in hospital, bed-bound until he died. He knew. But hearing his best friend say it out loud suddenly made him emotional, and he found tears threatening to spill out of the corners of his eyes. He bit his lip to stop them from falling, but that failed.

"I-I..." He was quiet, but suddenly he threw himself at Inuoka and buried his face in the middle blocker's shoulder. "I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" He howled, clinging to the currently shocked boy. Sou eventually pulled the boy close and began rocking him, a comforting motion that didn't stop his howling, but soothed the libero no less. "I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die, I wanna play, dammit, I WANNA PLAY!"

Shibiyama couldn't believe he was letting himself fall apart in front of his team, at a training camp of all places. The other teams probably thought he was being murdered or something. He'd never been like this before; Anything the doctor said, he took it with a smile, and said he'd deal with it.

Why did it take him so long to realize that he really, really wasn't dealing with it at all? That he was breaking under the pressure of himself? That he was so scared because this year or the next or the one after that could be his last? That he was so upset because he needed to play, he wanted to play, and yet...?

Kuroo started marching towards the door without warning, and Yaku followed him as Yuki's cries turned to whimpers. He realized something that he didn't want to know about himself, and at the same time realized that his team didn't mind...The latter was the best thing that ever happened to him so why was he crying?

Sou smiled gently. "You'll play. You'll play. I promise you. We'll go to nationals for you, Yuki, and you will PLAY." For some reason, that made the boy sob even louder, but a small smile was on his face nonetheless. It was comforting, back in his friend's warmth, being able to tell him everything once again. Like before it started getting bad. Like before he had to skip practices.

"Hey, Shibiyama." Kuroo called as he came in, a solemn but determined Yaku behind him. "You're gonna play in the next practice games. You and Yaku can switch out differently. You with Lev, Yaku with me. We sorted it out with the referees."

"R-really?! Yaku-senpai, you're okay with that?!" The libero was still sniffling, but his surprise overcame his upset. Yaku grinned that ever-so-confident grin. "Hey, look, I've seen this before. Kids shouldn't have to go through shit like this...But, anyway," He paused before pouncing on the still-embraced substitute and giving him a well-earned noogie. "If this may be your last year playing..."

Kuroo continued the sentence. "Then we're gonna make it the best damn year of your life."

* * *

It was the perfect game.

They were on the winning side, with one set each and the third set currently 21-17 in their favor, it was everything Shibiyama could honestly ask for in a game. It was perfect. He was switched out with a grinning Lev, who slapped him on the back before going to the bench. Yuki took a deep breath and kept his eye on the ball, being served by Bokuto. Fukurodani was a rare win for them, so the entire team was pumped.

The ball flew towards him, and as was his job, the substitute libero sent it flying into the air, earning a 'nice receive' from Yaku who was waiting in the libero area. Shibiyama grinned to himself; Playing was what he wanted. He wanted the exhilaration that only volleyball could deliver to him.

Their attack scored, and the team cheered. As they rotated, it was Taketora's turn to serve. He, of course, smashed it with his usual vigor, but Fukurodani's libero received it easily, sending a cheeky grin over to the frustrated ace. As Bokuto called for the ball, Yuki suddenly felt more focused.

This was it. He would receive Bokuto's killer spike.

But as the ball reached Akaashi, Shibiyama's vision suddenly became blurry. He cursed inside his head. _Not now, please not now._ He begged his entire body to just let him receive this one spike and then he'd be switched back out in no time, but to no avail.

He saw the ball hit Bokuto's hand. He saw the man go for the cross, and he saw Kuroo receive it too off, leaving it flying backwards towards the wall. All of a sudden, instincts took over, and he couldn't see and his body was aching and his spine was creaking, cracking, screaming for him to stop, and his shoulder protested as he jumped and brought it forward, and as soon as he hit the ground after sending the ball to Tora, screaming for him to get the last, he blacked out.

When he woke up, he apparently looked dead, but he never felt more alive.

"I'm okay. It just got really bad all of a sudden, it happens." Despite his assurances, his coach still lectured him on how he shouldn't be playing during such a bad relapse, which caused the substitute to clench his fists. Kuroo frowned and immediately intervened. "He could die today, and you're saying that?!"

The entire room went silent, even the Karasuno-Shinzen game stopping as the referees caught the ball and turned to see the source of the commotion. Nobody had ever seen anybody stand up to their coach, much less Kuroo to Coach Nekomata. Kuroo bowed. "Forgive me if I'm being rude..." He straightened back up. "But it's true."

"Stage three is the worst, anyone with a brain knows that. He won't get hurt anymore playing volleyball than he would walking to the store; It's all got equal danger to it!" The captain retorted. "So, what I'm saying is, let him play. Let him play, because all of us can play in college and in university, or maybe even professionally. We will all get the chance, later in life, to play volleyball." The rest of Nekoma nodded in agreement, and in complete, almost creepy unison. "Shibiyama might not get that chance. So let him play."

"Let him play! Let him play!" It started up from Bokuto, but it wasn't long before even the most melancholy in the room were joining in with the chant, including the coaches and managers. Coach Nekomata sighed. "OKAY, OKAY, SHUT UP, FOR GOD'S SAKE!" The room went quiet.

The old man sighed again, rubbing the back of his head and looking at the boy, who was cowering behind Kuroo, hoping he wasn't in trouble. "What are we gonna do with ya, eh, Shibiyama-kun?" He chuckled, showing off his famous Cheshire cat smile. "Fine, you can play. But if it's going to hurt you, I want you switched out. Be honest, Shibiyama-kun."

It took a second to process, but when it did, the substitute libero had a wide, unbreakable grin upon his face. "THANK YOU, COACH!" He basically screamed, bowing. The whole room cheered, and the normal chaos continued. As they got back into position, Kuroo ruffled the boy's hair.

That was all he did, but it once again meant more to the libero. He smiled. "Thank you, Kuroo-senpai." He turned to the room. "THANK YOU, EVERYBODY!" There was an outburst of 'nahhh's and 'its nothin's. He stopped for a moment and recollected his thoughts. "Seriously," He talked only to his team this time. "Without you guys...I thought I'd never play again."

There was a team-wide chuckle, and Kenma piped up. "They don't let you get away that easily. Believe me, I've tried."

The whole team burst into laughter. Shibiyama Yuki thought one thing, in the midst of the game.

If this was his last year, it would be the best death year known to man.

* * *

 **AN: THAT WAS REALLY FUCKING LONG JESUS H CHRIST! PRAISE ME! I CAME UP WITH THIS ON THE SPOT BECAUSE I FELT GUILTY FOR NOT UPDATING. HONESTLY, I MUST BE SOME KIND OF WRITING GOD! Anyways, on a more serious note, review if you liked, and once again, thanks for reading! Seeya next 'ball time!  
-AP**


	23. The Virtuous Vice Captain: Nekoma Pt 11

**AN: Okay, we're nearing the end of Nekoma. As much as I love love love the coaches and supervisors, I'm not going to do them unless this fanfiction gets more attention. Sorry, but this has more words than ANY, I mean ANY of my other fanfictions, and it's getting a handful of attention. I'll continue Aoba Johsai, Fukurodani and Shiratorizawa, of course. (Though forgive my saltiness for the last) But coaches, supervisors and family members will not be done unless there's popular demand. FORGIVE ME! FORGIVE ME IN ADVANCE! But now, enjoy.  
-AP**

* * *

 _The Virtuous Vice Captain_

"Kai, do something wrong." Kuroo whined as he once again spiked an easy trajectory, and nodded thanks at Kenma for the toss. The vice simply smiled calmly as Yaku came behind the captain and kicked him. "You can't just tell somebody to do something wrong! It's impolite!" The libero scolded, and Kuroo pouted as Nobuyuki laughed a little. "Don't fight, it's fine."

"SEE! THERE IT IS AGAIN! YOU'RE SO..." Testurou waved his arms around, gesturing wildly as if it'd help him find the words he wanted. "POLITE! AND NICE! ALL THE TIME! YOU'RE COMPLETELY PERFECT! DO YOU NEVER MESS UP?!" The rest of the team was paying attention now, and Coach Nekomata tutted, telling them to get back to work before walking over to the source of the noise. Kai rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I mess up a lot. I just do it quietly. You guys are kinda loud about it." He looked over to Kenma.

"See, just then, my trajectory and form were a bit off, so Kenma had to toss on a different angle than usual." All four, now including the coach, were shocked into silence. How did he even know that? Their cat-like coach was the first to recover, regaining his usual Cheshire Cat grin. "You've got some amazing game sense about you, Nobuyuki-kun. Modest, too."

"Oh, no, I'm not anything great." The wing spiker responded, calm smile not removed from his face, though he was blushing a little at the compliment from his coach. Kuroo growled. "DAMMIT KAI, YOU'RE PROVING HIS POINT!" Yaku spun and kicked their captain again as their juniors turned to face them in absolute and utter confusion, but also a prominent sense of curiosity. "Stop yelling, Ku-chan!"

The captain turned as red as their uniform and clamped his mouth shut. Coach Nekomata sighed, shaking his head. "Honestly, you three are more of a handful than the first-years. Get back to practice!" They all jumped slightly at the scolding from their coach, and nodded with a quick 'yes sir' before running back to the rest of their team.

* * *

"Kai, he's right, you know." Yaku said it quietly, almost dreamily, as he looked up at the night sky. When those two were together was possibly the only time the overbearing libero was actually quiet, and gentle, like he didn't want to hurt anybody. Nobuyuki was actually happy that this part of Yaku was only something he was allowed to see; It showed that what others perceived about their libero was wrong. "Hm?"

Yaku stopped for a minute, yawning and plopping down onto a bench, licking a popsicle that he held; His friend followed suite. "Kuroo. You never do seem to make any mistakes. Don't you have things that you hate, that make you all riled up?" Kai paused for a moment, looking down at his hands with a collected smile. It didn't drop, even as he clenched them into fists. "Of course I do, Yaku. Everybody has those things. Even me."

"You always seem so calm, though." The libero said, cocking his head to the side and looking over to the vice, who dropped his smile and decided upon a neutral expression, looking up at the stars. "Well, yes, but keyword being 'seem'. Nobody's calm all the time. Not anyone."

"What makes you mad, Kai? What makes you angry? What makes you cry? I'm genuinely curious." The libero said it with good intentions, but the wing spiker froze in midst of the answers swarming like hyperactive bees in his head. "A-a lot of things." He stumbled over his words, despite knowing those four wouldn't be enough to satisfy his friend.

"Like what?" The question was expected, of course, but that didn't stop it from being...difficult. Nobuyuki kept his fists clenched, squeezing them together tighter. "Can I tell you a secret, Yaku? If you promise not to tell anybody." He was refusing to make eye contact, knowing he'd lose control of his emotions if he did. Yaku looked up, confused, but nodded. "Of course. I won't tell."

"I don't think I know how to let myself be sad anymore." It was possibly the most sincere and true sentence that had come out of the vice captain's mouth for a very long time. Yaku paused, and his mouth dropped open only slightly in surprised, before he clamped it shut. "What do you mean?"

The vice hesitated slightly. He hadn't particularly told anybody about his life outside of school, but Yaku, unlike Lev or Kuroo, wasn't the type to tell anybody the slightest secret or to slip it out whilst gossiping. After deciding his friend was safe to tell, he began. "Well...My parents aren't really bad people, but...They see emotion as a weakness." He let his hands curl out of fists and dropped them to his sides. "All emotion. And what can I say? I was a kid and I didn't know better, so I cried and laughed and yelled like any other toddler would."

"But in my house, you weren't allowed to do that." Kai glanced over to his friend to see the boy's reaction, but he showed no signs of anything other than empathy that reflected from his eyes. "You'd be punished for the slightest thing. Little smiles were fine, little frowns were fine, but everything that was seen as overdoing it was punished. I've never been allowed to cry. In fact," He bit his lip and looked down at his loose, calloused hands. "I can't even remember what it feels like to cry."

Nobuyuki paused for a minute, unsure if he should go on, but the comforting hand that suddenly appeared on his tense shoulders urged him on. "...And you weren't allowed to slip up. Everything had to be perfect. I was taught to be quiet when I should be, to clean when I should, to talk when I should, to walk, eat, breathe, sleep and go to the toilet like I should." He squeezed his eyes shut and suddenly let out a yell that made Yaku jump. "I'm so sick of doing what I should!"

"'If you play, you win, Kai!', 'you shouldn't cry, Kai', 'you're showing us up, Kai', 'you should be more like your brothers, Kai'! Do this, Kai, do that, Kai, we don't even give a fuck about you, Kai! Nobody cares how you feel! Nobody cares what makes you happy! Nobody cares about a loser like YOU!" He'd stood, and was pacing as he yelled, and he brought his hands up to his ears on the last word and fell onto the floor with a strangled sob, as if he was trying to force it down.

"Kai." The voice was quiet, and gentle, and as his shorter friend slipped down next to him, he felt like hiding himself. He knew Yaku wouldn't scold him like his parents, but he was so used to having to hide that it was habitual. "It's okay."

Somehow, those two words broke down the dam that had held back Nobuyuki's emotions for years. Somehow, Yaku Morisuke sat down and said some things and destroyed everything that was drilled into Kai's head since he was old enough to walk. Somehow, Yaku Morisuke single-handedly made Kai Nobuyuki remember what it meant to cry.

And he did.

He cried SO hard. After all those years, everything small or large that had made him want to pull his hair out flew out of him so quick it left him breathless. Yaku was beside of him, wrapping his small but strong arms around the vice captain, comforting him quietly and rocking him back and forth. Kai stopped, eventually, but looked up with the last of his tears still streaming down his face.

Kai must've looked pathetic. Face crumpled, eyes red, the skin surrounding them raw and sore, nose running, and lips turned down into an unrivaled frown. And yet, Yaku grinned his usual, wide, caring grin at him, and Nobuyuki smiled back, and wiped his face with the sleeve of his uniform.

And then he knew what he felt.

He leaned in and up towards his confused friend and pressed his lips to the libero's.

After all this time, he was ready to feel the beauty the world had given to him. The beauty bestowed upon him, to save his life, to be his guardian angel, that lived in Yaku Morisuke.

And as they pulled back, Nobuyuki Kai smiled widely, teeth and all, for the first time since he was five years old. He loved it. He loved how it felt. He loved seeing the flustered but grinning face of his friend. He loved many things about this, but none more than the boy that let him finally feel it.

* * *

 **AN: WHOOPS IT WAS ANGSTY AND GAY! Tell me I'm not the only one who thinks about this ship? Like actually? It could totally work. Plus my headcanons for Kai and Yaku make them pretty close, so I figured I might as well ship them. Welcome to rareship city...Anyways, thanks for reading! Review if you wanna!  
-AP**


	24. The Wishful Wing Spiker: Nekoma Part 12

**AN: The end of Nekoooomaaaaaaaa! Finally! Aoba Johsai next...In case anyone was wondering, I'm doing the teams in the order they appear on the wikia page. Karasuno, Nekoma, Aoba Johsai, Date Tech, Fukurodani and Shiratorizawa last. So our favourite showoff team next! Anyways, this is kind of a continuation of The Stumbling Substitute, may the Lord forgive me. This could be interpreted as any ship so go wild. But Inuoka, Lev, Fukunaga and Shibiyama are kinda my OT4. Enjoy!  
-AP**

* * *

 _The Wishful Wing Spiker_

They promised Shibiyama he would play, and he did. He was substituted in during the game with Nohebi, though he only switched with Lev, because that was all they had ever practiced. Somehow, feeling the presence of Yuki behind him made Shohei feel more confident in his abilities than usual. He felt like any spike he hit could score, and any receive could easily make it to Kenma. Which, of course, wouldn't always be true; Games are unpredictable in that way. But he felt like it was nonetheless.

The game was perfect. It was rocky, but they won. Nekoma won. And Fukunaga felt like screaming and crying and squealing and cheering all at the same time. Inuoka grinned at him and came up behind both him and Shibiyama, throwing his arms around their necks. "Good job, guys! I just wish I could be in the spotlight too." He laughed, and the other two grinned at him.

They were going to Nationals.

They were going to fricking NATIONALS.

It had been years since Nekoma had gone to Nationals. Years since they'd even got past the prelims, but with Coach Nekomata and everybody else, he knew they'd get there from the start. As well as the motivation that Karasuno seemed to be providing. Shohei felt excitement rising from his gut as his team walked out of the court to get changed. He'd finally be there.

They made it to the changing rooms still linking arms. Inuoka kept giggling at Shibiyama's little jokes and poking fun at when Fukunaga messed up, acting like his normal self. Lev tackled them to get in on the hugging action, sending all four of them toppling to the ground. Kuroo tutted and scolded him, but the entire team was laughing uncontrollably. The Half-Russian giggled and looked up apologetically at his captain. "I'm just excited! We're going to Nationals!"

"Can't wait to go head-to-head with Shibi-chan, eh, Lev?" Kuroo said it without thinking, and the room suddenly became quiet and tense. Lev paused for a moment, licking his lips, and flashed a grin that calmed the rest of the room. "Yeah! We're gonna win." He'd said that, of course, but the entire team shared a glance as he stood and started getting changed. Lev hadn't managed to play against Hinata since...Since the incident.

Lev paused for a moment, looking around at most of his teammates. "Uh...do you wanna drive home in sweaty uniforms or what?" He giggled, and then sighed, looking at them one by one. "Guys, I'm fine, really. It's in the past. Besides, if I do freak out when we get there, I'm sure Inuoka can beat him for me." Sou laughed and pushed himself off of the floor, bringing his two other friends with him. "Of course, Lev."

The team fell into their usual rhythm. Everything was normal. They got changed and walked over to the bus, and sat down in pairs. Lev and Inuoka were on one side, and Fukunaga and Shibiyama were on the other. They were chatting as the bus started, taking them back towards their school. After about ten minutes, Yuki exclaimed that he needed to pee. Fukunaga insisted on walking down the bus with him.

By the time they got to the steep stairs, despite them only being a couple of seats away, Shibiyama looked exhausted. "Uh...Are you okay?" Shohei asked nervously. The substitute libero smiled and nodded, but it seemed forced. He gripped the banister and opened the door to the tiny toilet...And then his legs stopped working. Fukunaga should've been prepared, after such a long game, but he wasn't quick enough to stop Yuki's head slamming against the stairs, leaving him slumped and unconscious at the bottom of them. "STOP THE BUS!" Shohei screamed, rushing down the steps so fast it was lucky he didn't fall himself.

He lifted his friend and sat on one of the stairs until the bus screeched to a halt. "What's going on?" Coach Nekomata demanded, rushing down the bus and commanding the rest of the team to stay in their seats. Fukunaga stuttered an answer. "H-he...H-his legs, t-they just s-stopped, a-and he fell, a-and he h-hit his h-head, a-a-and..." He looked down at the knocked out boy and gasped.

"OH MY GOD HE'S NOT BREATHING!" The wing spiker screamed, and Coach Nekomata sighed a little, but still looked panicked, whispering something to himself before turning to the rest of the bus. "SOMEBODY CALL AN AMBULANCE! NOW!"

* * *

By the time the ambulance got there, Fukunaga had been commanded to sit outside with the unconscious boy until it arrived. They eased him onto a stretcher, much to the other boy's reluctance, and put him in the back, before turning to Coach. "We'll do our best. We've already contacted his parents. I'm very sorry." The paramedic said politely, as if it was rehearsed, and then disappeared into the ambulance as it sped away.

As soon as it was out of sight, Fukunaga was wrapped up in lanky arms he recognised as Sou's. He hadn't even realized he was crying until he heard his friend attempting to comfort him, but that didn't mean he stopped. He clung to Inuoka and shook. Other people joined the hug, but he didn't care. All he cared about right now is that his slow reaction could've killed one of his best friends.

"I-it's all m-my f-fault, d-dammit..." He meant to think it, but apparently said it out loud, because Sou pushed him back and glared defiantly into his eyes, which still had tears streaming out of them. "He's ill. He's always BEEN ill, Shohei!"

"Yeah, man, there's nothing you could do." Lev chimed in, and suddenly, Fukunaga recognized his arms too. Of course they'd be the two to hug him. He choked slightly. "B-but..." He looked away from the two, tears refusing bluntly to stop falling, and Lev placed an unusually gentle hand under the wing spiker's chin and tilted it so he could look the other boy in the eye.

"If there is anything I've learned over the past few months, Shohei, it's that things like this are never anybody's fault."

* * *

"WE'VE LOST HIM!" The nurse screeched. "GET THE DOCTOR IMMEDIATELY!"

Everybody was rushing around, and it was too loud, and Fukunaga felt like he was going to pass out from the general intensity of it all. Inuoka squeezed his hand and Lev was clinging to his side desperately, as if he'd die if he didn't.

When they heard the words 'we've lost him', all of their hearts seemed to stop simultaneously.

The world went in slow motion, but at the same time, it was way too fast. Sou squeezed so hard Shohei was sure his hand was losing circulation, and Lev let go, suddenly looking as if he was dead. Facial features blank and eyes unblinking, and glazed over. Fukunaga himself completely froze. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't blink, he couldn't even hear or smell or feel anything.

Like the world was collapsing around the three of them.

This had happened a lot in the past couple of weeks. Shibiyama was in a comatose state, and was completely unstable, drifting in and out of life every couple of hours. Every time they called a doctor, all three of them felt like Yuki wasn't the only one dying. Every time, the libero was okay.

It was different.

After the panic was over, this time Shibiyama was conscious, and the other three were allowed to see him. The nurse was confused at first, when she saw all three of their names under the section 'Significant Other', assuming they were all dating him separately, but understood when she saw Fukunaga leading the other two, who were clinging to him, lips pressed tightly shut.

Yuki smiled gently when he saw them.

Lev rushed at him and nearly pounced on the boy until he saw the machines, and then he bit his lip and wrapped his arms slowly around the other boy, as if he was breakable. Inuoka just sat down and clung frailly to Shibiyama's hand.

Fukunaga felt like he was going to pass out again. He came and sat down next to Inuoka. Despite being comatose, the substitute libero looked absolutely exhausted. "It's nice to see you guys..." He croaked, and then took a sip of water from the cup on the desk at the side of his bed.

"W-what's going to happen, Yuki-chan?" Sou asked anxiously, looking as if he could burst into tears at any second. Said boy sighed a little and licked his lips, hesitating. "I...I honestly don't know..." He trailed off, looking at his loose hands. He bit his lip.

"H-hey. I heard all three of you are on my significant other list. What's with that? I mean...I don't have a problem with it, but I can't possibly date all three of you." The mentioned three shared a quick glance to confirm what they wanted to say, before Lev spoke up. "Well..."

"We love each other, and we love you. Who's anybody to say that that's wrong?" The lion said, looking away for a second before smiling a little at the approving faces of the other two. Shibiyama laughed. "I guess you're right. I mean, if you all are okay with that. Though, have fun explaining that to my parents!"

* * *

 _2 YEARS LATER_

It seemed so far away, back then. Simple worries. Simple things. Even Shibiyama getting injured was ever-so-simple.

Yuki got out of hospital about a week after, and played exceptionally in Nationals wherever he was allowed. When he reached his second year, the rivalry with Karasuno kept going strong, and they had training camps constantly.

This time, they were knocked out in the prelims and never made it past the Spring Tournament. Karasuno, of course, did, flying high past them. However, in the prelim games, Shibiyama passed out again and was admitted back into hospital.

It was different that time.

He kept deteriorating. It wasn't long before he needed crutches just to walk to the en suite toilet in his hospital room, and he was too tired to speak most of the time. Eventually, he didn't. Even when people came, he just stared into space.

He was dead long before his heart stopped beating.

And now, here Shohei was, expected to talk in front of teammates, friends and family members. Expecting to say something amazing, when he didn't want to talk, or breathe, or exist. Despite all of that, he took a deep breath, and let himself speak.

"When I met Yuki Shibiyama, my first impression was that he wanted to be friends with everyone." Quiet chuckles rippled around the room. "And I was right. Very right. When I fell in love with Yuki Shibiyama, it was the day that he made my heart skip a beat. It's still one of the best days of my life." His team was smiling at him, and Lev and Inuoka seemed to be stuck together, completely inseparable.

"When I fell in love with the other two, they did the same. By the time I was head over heels for all three of those crazy idiots, it's a miracle I hadn't had a heart attack already." Laughter again, louder this time. He even made the quiet lump of his boyfriends giggle slightly. "Honestly, I wasn't prepared to do this. In our relationship, I always lead the way."

"We always knew this day would come." Fukunaga brought a hand to his face and then ran it through his hair. "We always knew that there was a chance that the next game would be the last that he played. It was something we were all aware of. And, honestly, he lasted 3 years of high school. That should be enough...But..."

"It still feels way too soon. I still want more time. I still want to come home to three overexcited boyfriends who'll pounce on me and suffocate me with kisses until I shove them off. And it can't happen anymore." He felt tears gathering in the sides of his eyes, and tried to shake them away, but to no avail. Shohei sighed and cursed silently, wiping his face with his sleeve. "He should be here."

"We all know that. But it seems so much harder to say it out loud. That Yuki Shibiyama is dead. And he's never coming back. I don't know if anybody here can get over that, but I sure won't."

"Old friends, new friends. First-years and second-years and second and first years in university. All the people he got to meet. All the people he made smile. All of you are here. He would've loved that you are." Fukunaga let out a choked sob and squeezed his eyes shut. "I-I know w-we're here to say goodbye. To celebrate who he is, but..."

"I can't say goodbye. I won't say goodbye. I'm dating three men and just because one of them isn't here anymore doesn't mean it doesn't stand. " He let himself cry. "I love you, Yuki. I love you."

And somewhere in the back of his mind, Shohei swore he heard a familiar voice.

 _I love you too._

* * *

 **AN: OH MY GOD. You know you've done bad when you cry when writing it. Forgive me for this...Forgive me...Anyways, this is the ever-so-angsty end of Nekoma. Give me a while to start up Aoba for title reasons. Thanks for reading, and review if you liked!  
-AP**


	25. The Able Ace: Seijoh Part One

**AN: OOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH SEIJOH! Here it is! Iwa-chan is my fave too. Sorry Oikawa but ur bae caught my heart when he threw that ball at your head...This is very much IwaOi. Warning for homophobia, because I'm mean. Enjoy!  
-AP**

* * *

 _The Able Ace_

"OIKAWA YOU ASSHOLE!" Iwaizumi yelled, picking up the ball and throwing it like a bullet directly at his captain's head. Oikawa squealed and rubbed his forehead. "NOT THE FACE!" He shouted back, pouting.

They'd been having some games in practice when Oikawa jumped before Iwaizumi and proceeded to do a dump- Directly on Hajime's head. Their team just shared a glance and rolled their eyes, including Kyoutani, who had only recently learned of Oikawa and Iwaizumi, and their respect for each other, if you could even call it that.

Noticing the 'mad dog' rolling his eyes made Iwa turn. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING THAT FOR?!" Kyoutani jumped, and looked around, before pointing to himself. Hajime nodded and he gaped for a second, opening and closing his mouth like a goldfish before answering. "I mean, you're just like an old married couple." He said it respectfully, almost timidly.

Oikawa started laughing as Iwaizumi's face suddenly turned bright, hot red.

* * *

"Mom, Dad, this is Iwaizumi Hajime. M-my boyfriend." Iwa squeezed the boy's hand and smiled encouragingly at him despite the fact that his heart was also nearly beating out of his chest. He felt his boyfriend shaking beside him, and could've screamed with relief as Makoto Tooru just grinned. "Oh Oi-chan, we know."

There was a pause. Oikawa took deep breath. "Y-you know?" Both of his parents nodded with bright, 1000 watt 'Tooru Grins', as the ace called them, and Iwaizumi let out a loud groan of relief. "Thank God. If it got any tenser, I think I would have just died." He said it loudly, and got the giggle out of his boyfriend that he wanted.

"So you're okay with us?" The boy glanced back over to his parents nervously. His mother still had her famous man-swaying smile plastered onto her face. "Of course, Oi-chan! Whatever makes you happy! But be safe, both of you! I mean it! I know teenagers have it earlier these days but remember to buy protection, I don't want you getting anything nasty-!" Oikawa shuddered, gasped, and blushed all at the same time. "MOM!" She laughed and stopped, still grinning.

"Sorry, sorry." The woman held her hands up in mock surrender and rolled her eyes at her son, before sharing a glance with his boyfriend. "I don't know how you deal with him, Iwa-chan!" Oikawa gasped loudly in offense, putting a hand to his chest as if she'd shot him, glaring at his mother with the anger of a thousand teenage volleyball players. Iwaizumi just laughed.

Suddenly, Oikawa's father was stood. He hadn't talked at all since the announcement, despite smiling and seeming accepting. He politely asked Iwaizumi if he could have a word, alone, and the other boy's face dropped. "Dad, is that really necessary?" The captain asked quietly. His ace found himself getting extremely nervous, but agreed to go with the man, squeezing his boyfriend's hand as a signal that it would be fine.

As soon as they got out of the room, Eiji Tooru turned, eyes narrowed, making sure his wife and son weren't listening, before he let out a sigh. "I don't have a problem with you dating my son. Honestly, he's happier than he has been for a while now. I thank you for that, but, man to man for a second?" Iwaizumi nodded, wondering what in the world made him of all people suddenly gain the usually icy man's respect. He smiled, before launching into his speech. "Oikawa is very much a ladies' man, even though he's gay." Iwa jumped at how blatant the businessman was about his son's orientation.

"And once word gets out, as it always does, people...are going to be people. Do you understand me?" Hajime nodded. People were going to be homophobic, people were going to launch attacks or lose interest or brush him off. He'd seen it happen to gay athletes before; One of the reasons neither he nor his boyfriend had come out until now. Oikawa's father smiled and sighed. "I knew you would. I can keep him safe out of school, but..." He trailed off to recollect his thoughts before continuing. "I can't in games and in school. So..." The man trailed off again, but Iwaizumi knew where he was headed now.

"So you want me to protect him?" The ace filled in helpfully, and Eiji nodded, smile brightening, before sighing as it dropped once again. Hajime close his eyes for a second, and then opened them with his 'for-the-parents' smile. "I can do that. I've done it before, after all. Oikawa does have a tendency to get himself in trouble." The man threw his head back and let out a bark of a laugh before wiping his eyes and looking back at the boy.

"He's just like his mother. We're very alike, you and me. I have no doubt you're a good match for my son. However," Iwaizumi beamed at the praise, but his heart plummeted when he heard the negative. "If you hurt my son, I will find you and break both of your legs."

Iwa snorted and picked his smile back up. "If I ever hurt Oikawa, I would want you to break both of my legs, sir."

* * *

"Dad. This is my boyfriend, Oikawa."

It was different than it was with Tooru's parents, that was for sure. His father looked up, and stopped, as if he was frozen completely in time. Then he stood. His head was down, until he looked up at Iwaizumi with eyes that shone almost demonically. "Is this what your mother died for? To let a fag live in this house?" He hissed. The younger Hajime flinched as Oikawa suddenly squeezed his hand hard. It wasn't comforting though, not for him. No, Oikawa Tooru was scared.

"Dad-!" Iwaizumi started, but he stopped as his head was snapped to the side, the slap resounding around the room. It took the ace a second to register the pain. He brought a hand up to his slowly reddening cheek and pulled it back, barely believing what had just happened. His dad...slapped him? Sure, the man had gotten aggressive or broken things in arguments before, but never once had he laid a hand on his son.

Oikawa's hand being ripped from his was what brought the volleyball player back to reality. For a moment, as his boyfriend was pinned against a wall, Iwa couldn't move. "You! You were the being who corrupted my son, weren't you? You...You and your kind are the cancer of this world." Tooru looked like he would've protested until a hand was pressed on his neck, shortening his breathing supply. The captain felt himself getting dizzy, and he did all he could think of.

"I-Iwa-chan!"

And the boy was on his father in a second. They rolled around, knocking over the table, both glaring as Oikawa regained his breath, putting a hand on the floor to support him as he retched slightly. Most of the fight was just labored breathing, but soon Iwaizumi was on top, holding his father down determinedly, with a look of pure rage that nobody in that room had seen before, not even the boy himself. "Don't you touch him. Do whatever you want to me but don't you fucking dare lay a hand on my boyfriend otherwise you won't have a son to speak for."

The older Hajime relaxed, and Iwaizumi let him stand, rushing over to his boyfriend as the captain started throwing up. His father stood above them, eyes looking almost dead. Iwaizumi looked up, confused, to meet them, and the fire still remained. "I already don't." He said simply, with an obviously hysterical bark of laughter. The ace furrowed his eyebrows as Oikawa stopped throwing up and leaned back, looking exhausted. "W-what?"

"I already don't have a son. Pack your bags and get out. You are the furthest thing from my son I've ever met."

Oikawa could only look up, stunned, as his boyfriend went upstairs, and came down five minutes later with a blue suitcase, and then helped him up. He slung the boy's arm over his shoulder so his shaking legs could bear his own weight. As they got out of the door, Iwaizumi threw his keys at his father's feet. His face was still blank and emotionless.

"Goodbye, sir."

"Goodbye, stranger."

* * *

As soon as they got to the Tooru household, Makoto helped her son to the couch and told him to wait a moment as he coughed, because she'd bring him water. As soon as Oikawa was taken care of, his shoes were off, and he was putting his stuff into the drawers of the Tooru's spare bedroom, Iwaizumi Hajime burst out crying.

He hadn't cried like this for a while, but as he tried to muffle his sobs with his hand he realized that he probably had needed to.

"Ggh...I-Iwa...Chan..." Oikawa pushed open the door, looking slightly faint. Out of habit, Hajime immediately hid his face, not wanting his injured boyfriend to see him in such a state. The captain let out a loud sigh and walked over, kneeling next to his ace and gently prying his hands away from his face. "It's okay to c-cry. You just got kicked out. You don't have to hide it from me, Iwa-chan."

"D-dammit Oikawa, I really thought he'd get it, y'know? If he let me explain. I-I should've known. I'm an idiot." He sobbed as the brown-haired boy pulled his head into his shoulder and started rubbing comforting circles in his back. "You aren't an idiot." He murmured soothingly, gently, as if talking to an injured animal. Iwaizumi let out a strangled, bitter laugh. "I am! I could've made it a whole lot less...Final! I put myself in danger by bringing you! I PUT YOU IN DANGER, OIKAWA! HE COULD'VE KILLED YOU!"

He let the words sink in for a moment, and then Hajime suddenly clung to his boyfriend like he would a lifeline. "H-he could've killed y-you. I-I'm s-so s-sorry." Oikawa froze for a second, realizing that his significant other was very much right; That boy's father could've just killed him. The thought made a shudder vibrate through the captain's body. "B-but he didn't. Besides," He put a hand under Iwa's chin and lifted it so they were making eye contact. "You did nothing wrong. You should be forgiving yourself right now, not apologizing."

"I don't think I can ever forgive myself for nearly getting you killed."

Oikawa scoffed and pressed his lips suddenly to the other's. This wasn't a hard, fast kiss though, like their usual ones. It was sweet, gentle, and comforting, like a light summer breeze blowing through a flowering field. As he pulled back, the setter grinned. "Well then I'll just have to help you, won't I?" He said matter-of-factly. Iwaizumi shuddered and laughed a little; Oikawa and help usually didn't go together too well.

"Seriously though. I mean it. You're worth more than that pathetic little man and his pathetic little opinions. We have our team, and we have each other, Iwa-chan, we don't need him or anyone else who thinks that we're doing something wrong. Okay?" The ace wasn't used to getting lectured by his setter, but he wasn't used to getting kicked out of his house for no reason either. He just sighed as Oikawa rocked back, leaving the captain leaning against his shoulder.

"Okay."

* * *

 **AN: GOD THAT WAS DEPRESSING! THANK GOD IWA ISN'T GOING TO DIE THOUGH! I mean, I almost killed Hinata and DID kill Shibiyama. (I left it 2 years, okay? That's good for me!) But I'm not PLANNING on any deaths or near deaths in Aoba Johsai. Hey, who knows? Anything can happen with me. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, thank you for reading, and review if you liked!  
-AP  
**


	26. The Charming Captain: Seijoh Part Two

**AN: Damn. Oikawa is here. That BASTARD. Anyways, let's get on with it. Quick note: As said, chapter titles are REALLY hard! I'm not that skilled at alliteration, my English teacher chose it because it was the one thing she knew I'm BAD at. Which reminds me, please feel free to review if you have any title suggestions at all. But anyway, this is mainly filler, sorry. Enjoy!  
-AP**

* * *

 _The Charming Captain_

Oikawa Tooru fluttered the hearts of all of those he met, and he knew it. Whether it be in fear, in anger or in complete head-over-heels love, he could sway pretty much anybody. He had no idea though, how that made him the best Agony Aunt in Miyagi, because currently, Asahi Azumane, ace of Karasuno, was standing in front of him asking for help when weeks before Daichi Sawamura, Sugawara Koushi and Nishinoya Yuu (THE LIBERO, OF ALL PEOPLE!) had done the same damn thing.

"Am I really this goddamn approachable?! SERIOUSLY?!" He grumbled as the ace bowed. "Get up, you asshole, you'll embarrass us. You and your team are a pain in my ass recently, just so you know. I'm only listening to you because I'm a really, really nice person! Be sure to tell your team that before they throw all their problems on me!" The anxious boy seemed confused, and stuttered for a second, before apologizing and straightening up. He was obviously unaware of the rest of his team's antics. Oikawa sighed.

"Alright, what's going on now?" He had to go to the Grocery store and really didn't fancy a conversation with somebody on the opposing team who on many accounts could count as an ENEMY, but as he said, he was a really nice, empathetic person. Azumane rubbed his arm and looked at the floor. "I didn't mean to come to you. I just passed you on my way to...Well..."

And he explained. And Oikawa listened, and for a split second wondered how the Hell Karasuno kept themselves together all these years. The captain of Aoba Johsai sighed and rubbed the back of his head, pausing to find the right words. "Don't get me wrong, #3, beating up abusers isn't a bad thing. But going up against a non-alcoholic athlete in his thirties is much different than beating the shit out of a 30 year old alcoholic who's overweight and lazy, and at that, with your friends with you. I get it, you know? My boyfriend has a bad dad too."

"Iwaizumi-san has a bad father? He-!" Oikawa held a hand out to stop the other boy speaking and sighed overdramatically before interrupting very loudly, sounding irritated. "'He looks so strong and stuff, you'd never tell!' I've heard it before. I know. But anyway," He put his hand down and then slipped both of them together so he was crossing his arms. "I really wanna fuck up Iwa's dad too. He's a dick. An arrogant, homophobic dick, at that. But I don't, and I especially don't without anybody else around."

The ace looked confronted, slightly like a deer in headlights, and then looked up with an expression that screamed epiphany. "So come with me." He said it matter-of-factly, as if the setter would just agree to go get beaten up and arrested. Tooru took a second to bathe in how dumb it was. "I have a pretty face that isn't going to get broken." He replied, trying to cut past him.

"But Oikawa! What can I do?! I can't just LEAVE him!" The large man protested, putting an arm out and stopping the frustrated third-year in his tracks. Oikawa growled; He really wanted his ice-cream, and it was seriously pissing him off. "Well I can't do anything! I'm not Super Setter or whatever, am I?"Asahi sighed and shook his head. "Sorry for bothering you. I just...I can't make this decision alone..."

"You have a team for a reason, Ace." Tooru grumbled, slipping his arms down so they were on his hips. Now, the ace finally looked confronted. Good. Everyone knew when Oikawa put his hands on his hips, he was pissed off. Azumane let out another particularly sad-sounding sigh. "But I can't tell them, Noya would-!"

"Speaking of your libero, isn't that him?" Oikawa pointed across the road, where Nishinoya was in fact looking around like his younger cousin had gone missing. As soon as his eyes landed on the arm pointing in his direction and then, by association, the huge, now shocked lump of an ace he was probably dating. He rushed over and Oikawa dropped his arm. "ASAHI AZUMANE! WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?! ARE YOU _CRAZY?!_ "

Oikawa let out a low whistle. "You are in it now, buddy." Azumane shot him a glare as his boyfriend took him by the shoulders, but Tooru stopped his teasing as soon as he noticed how terrified Karasuno's libero was. He was hyperventilating, eyes wide. "Y-you...! YOU IDIOT! Don't you realize how much he could hurt you?! How much BOTH OF THEM could hurt you?! Don't you think I have enough on my plate w-with..." He was throwing his arms around and losing his words, and Seijoh's setter was going to proceed to his location, but wasn't sure whether or not to, so just awkwardly hovered.

"W-with S-Shouyou, and D-dad, and Mom, and you, and my brother, a-and GAMES, a-and..." It was sort of disconcerting seeing Nishinoya like this; Compared to his usual, albeit annoying, attitude, this was heartbreaking. Oikawa suddenly understood Ace-san's anger. It would make sense; Seeing someone thrown out of their nature so violently was frustrating, and Tooru barely knew the guy. Asahi had frozen, so the setter cut in. "Hey, look, libero, chill, okay? You have a lot to worry about, but you can't pretend this isn't affecting Azumane-san too!"

Noya turned, and he looked livid suddenly. "W-w...What would you know?!" He spat like a viper, and Oikawa scoffed a little before relaxing his arms and continuing with an irritated expression. "Only what your ace told me. And honestly, it's a lot. But I told him when he came to me he had to be honest about everything and he was. What I'm saying, kid, is...Your situation is shitty. Your decoy's situation is shitty. Your team's current situation is so OVERWHELMINGLY shitty I wonder how half of you aren't six feet under." He took a breath, happy the libero had calmed and was finally listening. "But your boyfriend here, he's not invincible either. I mean look at him; he's basically made of anxiety, he's freaking out right now just because you yelled at him!" Azumane glared.

"I'm f-f-f-fine." He stuttered, and then covered his mouth as if it was it's fault his voice was shaking. Nishinoya's arms dropped to his sides, and the smaller boy looked ashamed of himself. Before either of them could talk, Oikawa continued. "OK, sure, you're fine and I'm straight. Anyway, Azumane suffers a ton worrying about you! I mean, he panics when you even vaguely hurt yourself, can you imagine how many attacks he's had when he thinks about your situation?! He's suffering and he's angry and he's anxious and he's upset and he wants to protect you, Nishinoya-kun."

The libero looked down and wrapped his arms around himself. "I-I'm sorry, I-I didn't...You d-don't need to worry over-!" Asahi seemed to have regained the spark from before because, despite the tears gathering in the corners of his eyes, he stepped forward. "Nothing?! Is that what you were going to say, Noya, that I don't need to worry over NOTHING?!" Nishinoya looked up, and tears were still streaming.

"But you're not, Yuu, you're not nothing! You're-...For fuck's sake, you're my EVERYTHING! You're so much more than what they say to you! You're so much more than nothing!" Azumane was sobbing, and the libero was sobbing, and Oikawa was, yes, actually sobbing.

"That's so sad...You guys kill me..." Oikawa wiped his face with the sleeve of his jacket and cleared his voice. "Right, now, we've got the sobbing out of the way, that's done, what now? And no, Ace, I'm still not coming!" He hissed, and said boy actually laughed as he wiped his eyes, and then looked down, bringing a gentle hand to his boyfriend's face and wiping away the tears with his thumbs. He placed a kiss on the boy's forehead. "I'm gonna save my boyfriend, Oikawa." He turned to the captain and bowed. "Thank you for your help. Really."

"I mean I didn't really-" But they were already gone. "Do anything." He finished with a sigh, shaking his head. Whatever they did, it wasn't his business. The Karasuno team was a considerably sad one, but Oikawa was still pissed off they found him that approachable.

* * *

"So you accidentally came out to the opposing team? Seriously, Oikawa?!" Iwaizumi scolded as they lounged on the couch. Oikawa's mother was still at work, whilst his father made dinner. Makoto did a night shift, whilst her husband did a day shift, meaning that for supper, he'd cook, and for breakfast and dinner, she'd cook. Oikawa hated to admit that his father was considerably better at cooking.

Said man walked in with a grin. "That's our son for you." He set two plates of pork curry down in front of the boys, before returning to the kitchen, to clean up before he had his own. Oikawa giggled a little. "Look, it just came out." A loud laugh resonated from the kitchen, and Iwaizumi chuckled a little as his boyfriend grinned. The larger man sighed. "They could hurt you, Oikawa."

"Pfft. With you around? They wouldn't have a chance."

* * *

 **AN: I know this was angsty, which was why I gave you a little helping of fluff at the end. Anyway, feel grateful that I even did this, I took so long brainstorming titles, you have no idea. Once again, feel free to give me any title suggestions. Thank you for reading and review if you enjoyed!  
-AP  
**


	27. The Loyal Libero: Seijoh Part Three

**AN: Oh shit, they're back. Gimme a break on these guys, I did say they're really hard to think up. This is like, the most I've been consecutively productive in years. Anyways, you already know all the trigger warnings, and stuff. So anyway, I hope you enjoy it!  
-AP**

* * *

 _The Loyal Libero_

"And then he asked me for advice! Worst part is, I gave it to him!" Oikawa ranted, and Shinji just hummed in affirmation, not really listening. Unlike other liberos out there, he wasn't much of an advice-giver, nor a listener. His captain huffed. "Are you even paying attention?! That stupid game can't be that good!" Tooru said, pointing at the phone which displayed an avatar on a road. Yes, you guessed right, Watari was more consumed in Pokémon Go than his setter's problems. But who wouldn't be? After all, Oikawa was the team's resident drama queen.

"Well, maybe if you tried it, you wouldn't hate it so much." He defended, sending a joking glare to the other boy. Tooru crossed his arms and turned his nose up, flicking his head away from the device the libero held out. "I can have fun without video games. Who has time for them, with volleyball?!" He demanded it as if there was no answer, but Iwaizumi piped up from behind him. "Well, Kozume, the setter for Nekoma, seems to balance it fine. I heard Karasuno are pretty sick at Mario-Kart and Zelda and stuff. And Ushiwaka likes Pokémon to-!"

"I DON'T CARE WHAT USHIWAKA LIKES!" Oikawa shouted it almost defiantly, like a toddler having a tantrum, pout and everything. His boyfriend let out a snort, glancing down to his phone. He was, of course, playing the game too, it being the latest craze. "I see what this is about." Their libero said suddenly, causing both the boys to look back at him. "You've still got a grudge against Captain Shiratorizawa, right? I don't know why you hate him so much. "

"It's not a grudge! And I don't hate him! I just hate what he stands for as a human being!" Tooru protested, stamping his foot. He really was the picture of a young child that had been spoiled absolutely rotten, and truth be told, that was probably accurate to how he was raised, too. At least he didn't go too rotten. "That's pretty much hating him, Captain." Shinji said coyly, with a small smile. Oikawa let out a growl and huffed, marching off.

After he was out of earshot, Watari sighed. "Jesus, Iwaizumi, I don't know how you deal with him." He said, turning his phone off and shoving it in his pocket. The ace did the same and shot the boy a bemused grin. "What do you mean? You really think I'm the one who wears the pants? If you do, you've never really met Oikawa Tooru, because he never, ever settles for bottom." The libero turned bright red, and Hajime let out a bark of laughter, patting him on the shoulder as he walked past.

"Don't say things you aren't prepared for the response for." He said simply, disappearing into the night. Shinji smiled and yawned, wiping his eyes.

He should probably go home too. He was trusted with locking the gym up, after all. Despite this, the ball basket peeking out of the cupboard was tempting, frustrating him, taunting him.

Shinji Watari knew himself like the back of his hand. Unlike most of his team, he didn't need any self-discovery. He knew his limits, he knew how good he was, he knew who he was attracted to and why, and he had absolutely no confusion about his identity. He had to go through that when he was much younger. His father had been sick for most of his life, so he was forced to take charge over his siblings and the house. Their mother had left after his youngest sister was born. When he took charge, he had a lot of confusion.

Chance to discover himself came quicker than for everybody else.

Something he knew particularly about himself was that he wasn't a spectacular player, and he definitely couldn't be classed as anything more than average as a libero. But he couldn't exactly be the setter with Oikawa around; Who could live up to him? Definitely not Watari. Libero wasn't a position he was uncomfortable with, particularly, however, his lack of skill often frustrated him to exhaustion. Usually, Tooru would be the one to stay late, so Shinji would head home; He preferred to practice alone. Walls can't laugh at you, after all.

He glanced down at the watch on his wrist. 9:15PM. He should really be going home. The second eldest of them had probably already put the younger kids to bed and fed them, but he knew that him and Haruhi, the eldest girl, would stay up waiting. Then again...Shinji slipped his phone back out of his pocket, turning it on. Once he was in the text section, he bit his lip, fingers hovering over the keys, before he finally typed a short message, and a lie at that.

 _Practice is running late. Don't wait up - Shinji_

* * *

"OIKAWA-SAN!" The captain spun around to be greeted with the teary face of Haruhi Watari. She was a first year, and so was her other brother (they were born in the same year) so it was strange to see her around. "Yes?"

"Forgive me! But do you know where Shinji went after practice last night?! It was so late and he didn't come home-!" Tooru furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, pulling his backpack further up his shoulder. "It was only 9PM." He said simply, glancing at the girl, who gasped and suddenly looked absolutely and utterly pissed off. "Shinji said practice ran late!"

"It didn't. We ended pretty early, actually." The captain affirmed, blinking slowly. He wondered why Watari had lied to his sister; He wasn't usually the type to gossip or spread rumors or lie at all really. "We can check the gym together, come on." Oikawa said, and with that, they both made their way to the volleyball gym. The setter was vaguely unsurprised to find it unlocked. They both walked in, and the boy immediately started giggling.

Shinji was snoring, completely asleep, leaning against the wall and sat, sprawled, on the floor. A ball was limply held in his hands.

"...Is he...sleeping?" Iwaizumi said bemusedly, having come up behind the two, peering confusedly into the gym. Oikawa just nodded before striding in, walking over to where their libero was sprawled. He dragged his leg backwards into the air and then...

"OI!"

Watari let out a sound that could be compared to the yelp of a dog, if that dog was mixed with a cat, and had rabies, and was caught doing something it shouldn't have been, with maybe a little werewolf. He jumped up in surprise and groaned, rubbing the volleyball-shoe sized mark on his side. He blinked drearily, and it took him a second to realize where he was, and then another second to realise he wasn't alone. He straightened up and stretched, yawning, before turning to his captain, sister, and ace.

Oikawa was wearing a somewhat unimpressed expression, Iwaizumi just looked curiously amused, and Haruhi had...an indescribable look. She suddenly lunged at her elder brother, immediately ranting. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU-?! I WAS SO-?! HOW-?! I JUST-?!"

"Good morning, Haru." Shinji said sheepishly as he pried himself from his sister's grip. "Sorry. I just uh, I guess I felt like practicing a little later? And then, well, I lost track of time..." He trailed off uncertainly as his sister sighed. She was always the most mature of her and her brother, despite being younger than him by months. She shook her head amusedly before hugging him. "It's okay, niisan. Just...don't overwork yourself, okay? I worry."

"I know. I'll...I won't." He whispered, resting his head on top of hers and patting her back. Both of them seem to have forgotten the other two, who stopped setting up to let out a simultaneous 'aww'. The two jumped apart embarrassedly, before Haruhi patted herself down and rushed out. "OH, AND YOU HAVE TO SKIP PRACTICE, DAD'S COMING HOME FOR THE WEEKEND!"

Watari let a smile fall unto his face, and for once, it stuck for the entire day.

* * *

 **AN: Yay! How does this have so many words, this fic? I didn't even know I HAD that many words in me?! Oh well. You guys better appreciate this, these take time, you know. And a lot of motivation! Anyways, all joking aside, I hope you enjoyed! Review if you liked, and thank you very much for reading!  
-AP  
**


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